


Kid-Arachnid: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut

by peterpraker



Series: Spider-Man Extended Universe [1]
Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Pretty fine imo, just my self indulgence don't take it seriously, spider-man scripts slapped onto the dialogue + story, still ongoing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:01:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 61
Words: 172,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27175597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peterpraker/pseuds/peterpraker
Summary: From your average, normal teenager to a spider-themed hero. Kris never would have thought his life would change drastically. At first, he thought it'd be fun. But boy, he's got a long way to go if he wants to be the hero he's dreamed of becoming.
Series: Spider-Man Extended Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2048561
Kudos: 3





	1. Midtown High's Professional Wallflower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day it all began for Kris, right to the point of his new everyday life. It's completely normal—if you were a superhero that had to balance your 'normal' (That being your superhero career) life AND school at the same time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've returned! With a rewritten version of my series! Very nice, very nice. Anyway, the point is—the fic's rewritten, and I've already written it all out. Thing is, it may or may not be changed, because I have yet to proofread through all of it, so for now, it's currently chapter-by-chapter. I'll try to get in as many chapters as I can, though! Plus, it's just me indulging myself in Spider-Man so don't be surprised when it's mostly me lmao

“Five, four, three, two, one. Ready or not, here I come!” 

A young boy opened his eyes and went around his house, looking for his father with a smile on his face. The boy was 5 years old, and his hair was slightly messy. His eyes were brown. While they are normally black, they are usually brown when exposed to light. (Just a quick lil fact thrown in there for funsies)

He first checked the living room. He saw two shoes behind a curtain. The boy had a smile on his face, thinking that he won. He pulled away the curtain, only to see that there was a broom and a cowboy hat.

The boy opened the basement door but was immediately intimidated by the darkness of the basement and closed the door. He stumbled upon his father's glasses. He wore them as he looked around, then onto the family picture. It consisted of him, his father, and his mother.

He went into a room, which seemed to be his father's study. It was completely messy. Papers were everywhere, and the window was constantly open and closing because of the wind. There were even shards of glass on the floor, along with the papers and messy table.

“Dad? _Dad!_ ” His father came in and paused before he grabbed his son, closed the curtain, and started rummaging through a drawer. He removed it and pulled out a folder. From what the boy could tell, it looked important. His mother came in, and his mother picked him up and briskly walked out.

Immediately after, the father started erasing the work he had from his blackboard. Whatever it was, it definitely seemed important.

~~~

The car ride seemed tense. The boy didn’t know why, though. By the time they had reached a house in Queens, his father picks him up and they go inside the house. Turns out, it was his aunt’s house.

His mother and father were discussing things with his aunt and grandfather. The boy and his cousins (Quintuplets, might I add) peeked from the corner.

“It’s okay, Kris. We’ll, uh… play games!” Abby said.

“But what will happen to my mom and dad?”

“I-it’ll be fine!” Nicolette quickly added. She turned to Marilynn, and they both shrugged.

~~~

“You're gonna stay with your aunt for a little while.”

“I wanna go with you.” His father kissed him on the forehead, then his mother tenderly stroked his face as she cried and gave instructions to her sister-in-law.

“He doesn't like vegetables, and he likes to sleep with a little light on at night.”

“Come on,” His father said, holding out his hand for his mother to take his hand and walk out the door.

“Dad..?”

“Be good, Kristian. You five, watch over him.”

~~~

Who is he? You _sure_ you wanna know? The story of his life is not for the faint of heart. If somebody told you it was a happy little tale… if somebody told you he was just your average, ordinary guy not a care in the world, somebody lied.

But this tale, just like any other worth telling, is all about a boy, but first, let’s introduce a different character first. That girl. The white-haired, pinkish-red eyed girl. Lysithea Ordelia. I’d like to tell you that it was him beside her. Heck, I’d even take the other guy eating a donut in front of her.

From the window, you could see a hand pounding on the window furiously as he ran. That’s him. “Hey! Stop the bus!”

The kids in the bus, aside from Lysithea, Gwen, and his best friend, Claude, who was constantly trying to tell the bus driver to stop. “Tell him to stop, please!” Kris shouted breathlessly as he struggled to catch up with the bus. Or pretended to look like he struggled, anyway. He’s gotta keep the act that he’s the ‘unfit nerd’, even if he accidentally would use his powers occasionally

Gwen, who was right behind Lysithea and practically had enough with the bus’ constant laughter, loudly said, “Fun’s over, just let him on!” 

The bus driver gave in and sighed, stopping the bus and letting the kid in. Claude looked over to Gwen in complete gratitude as Kris finally managed to get on. “Thank you. So sorry I was late.” A paper ball was tossed at him, and he completely ignored the laughter that followed it.

As he walked down the bus, everyone either positioned themselves so that Kris wouldn’t have a seat, or would either put their hands on their seats and say, “Don’t even think about it.”

One of Brad’s friends, Eddie, tripped him, making him and his glasses fall over. And of course, a stunt like that would cause the entire bus to laugh again. (Other than Lysithea, who was reading her book, Gwen, who was looking at her phone, and Claude, who was his best friend.)

~~~

“Dude, that was, like, the _third_ time this month,” Claude commented. “You know you could have just used your uncle’s cars or something.”

“But you know, I just wanna know what it’s like. Plus, I rarely get to do that, seeing as I always end up being late. Just wanted to get that old feeling of going to school by bus.”

“So your uncle’s cars don’t drive you to school anymore?”

“No. Mostly because they know I can get there on time. Also because I don’t really wanna talk to him.” Kris explained. Claude nodded in agreement, forgetting he somewhat hated his uncle, only because he basically neglected him and his cousins. “But between you and me, I rarely get to go to school early, like before.”

“Yeah, what happened to that?”

“Oh. Uh…” Kris began thinking of a lie that also seemed believable. Something believable that can cover up the fact that he’s Kid-Arachnid. Then, he remembered he had the Stark Internship as an excuse. “Y-yeah. Stark Internship.”

He internally debated with himself about that excuse. He felt like he’s milking it a bit too much for his liking, especially since he’s been using it for two months. He wondered how long it’d take until his peers and classmates grew wary.

“Dude, you’re practically obsessed with the internship.” Claude rolled his eyes half-way, but stopped. “But then again, I can’t blame you. I’d also be obsessed with an Internship if it was under Tony _Freakin’_ Stark.”

“Did you just reference StarKid?”

“Yes,” Claude looked at Kris with malicious content in his face. It was Kris’ turn to roll his eyes. “ _Stark_ -kid.”

“I hate you.”

~~~

Ever since Kris had gotten his suit and powers, he never really had the time to fully dedicate his time with the Decathlon, only because he felt like he could juggle his clubs, school, and his superhero work. Surprise, he can't. He almost always ended up spending almost zero time at practice because he ‘has to go to the Stark Internship.’ All he always does on a daily basis is walk into the room, answer at least one question (Or more, depending on how he feels that day.), and walk right out.

Practically everyone in the Decathlon team hates him, except for Claude, Gwen, and Lysithea. Well, they don't really hate him, they just… _mildly_ dislike him. But they just know that he's basically the smartest person in the room, (Thanks to the Avengers giving him more of a headstart in his classes, along with his tutor, who isn’t really necessary, he still needs to attend his sessions to not arouse suspicion.) so they don't really mind. Except for Brad. He just hated him.

~~~

Kris was on a train, sporting his Nike Air Max 1s, a black hoodie, blue sweater, a checkered shirt underneath the blue sweater, and pants. He pulled out his phone and started texting Happy. After the countless amounts of texts have been sent, he scrolls up, realizing how much he had been texting Happy. If he thought about it, he didn’t think Happy would be… very happy (HAAAAAH) about the amount of texts he had from Kris.

The train dropped Kris off at 36th Avenue Station, which is right next to Midtown High. He walked downstairs to street level where football fields stand surrounded by fences while listening to his new favourite musical, In The Heights. He strolled down the sidelines and approached the main building. He could see students playing all kinds of sports on the field. He climbed a flight of stairs, then quickly avoided being hit by a convertible driven by, none other than Brad.

“‘Sup, Dork!” He called out smugly with his hand on one wheel and the other resting on the headrest, as if he was showing off ‘how cool he is’.

A few students chuckled, and Kris sighed before continuing his route to his locker. A school news report is playing in the hallway, two different students as the news anchors.

“ _Rise and shine, Midtown Science and Technology._ ”

“ _Students, don't forget about your homecoming tickets. Do you have a date for homecoming?_ ” The student said, still not looking away from the camera and making it a lot more awkward than it already is.

“ _Thanks, Stan, but I already have a date._ ”

“ _Okay._ ”

“ _Yeah._ ”

On the small TV, it zooms into Stan, who's rolling his eyes in an awkward way. Kris continued with his route to his locker, with a teenage boy flying a drone around the crowded hallway. Kris walks by as Principal Danson grabs the drone out of the air.

“Damn it,” He quietly said because the drone had given him a small cut on his index finger. “You, in my office right now.”

The drone pilot follows the principal, and Kris spotted other students carry elaborate science projects. He stops at his locker and takes off his jacket. He enters the combination and opens the locker. Suddenly, a hand pops up behind him. It's Claude holding a Nick Fury Lego figure over Kris' shoulder.

“Echarri! S.H.I.E.L.D will need you to help us…” Claude said with his best attempt to do Nick's voice, before slowly going back to his normal voice. “...Build the new S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier!”

Kris’ eyes widened and he spun around. “ _What?_ ” 

“So lame…” Kris turned to the group of girls who said it. He shrugged it off.

“No way, that's awesome! How many pieces?”

“Two-thousand, nine-hundred and ninety six.”

“That's insane!”

“I know! You wanna build it tonight?” Claude asked. Kris paused. He wanted to build it, but at the same time, he also wants to do his superhero stuff. He ended up going with the superhero stuff. It’s his responsibility, but he definitely knew it’d give him social consequences. Lots and lots of them.

“I can't, I have to…”

“Stark Internship,” Claude finished. “What’s it about the internship?”

“I don’t know. But it’ll hopefully turn into a real job.” Having picked up his textbooks, Kris started to walk down the hallway with his best friend.

“Oh. So he’ll be like, ‘Good job on the Iron man suit, Kristian. Here’s a gold coin.” Claude paused, his legs practically on auto-pilot. “I don’t know how jobs work.”

“It’s kind of how it works.”

“Oh. Well, um, uh, I’ll knock out the basic bones of the Helicarrier at my place. And, and then I’ll come by afterward…”

His voice faded out as Kris slowed to a stop. The world seemed to slow down around him. And, well, she may be who you think she is—a pretty white-haired girl talking with Gwen down the hall. It’s Lysithea. She brushed her hair back and their eyes met for a fleeting moment. Kris was mesmerized. He could barely keep up with his conversation with Claude. 

“...because for the most part, the difficult thing is most likely the base of it. The top half we can knock out in two hours, tops.” Claude finished.

“Yeah… Yeah, that’d be great.” Kris commented, still looking at Lysithea. Claude looked at Kris and attempted to snap him back to reality by continuously snapping in front of his eyes. Claude noticed Kris’ pupils were bigger than normal.

“Kris? _Kriiiis?_ ” Claude said, continuously snapping, with the snapping’s decibels slowly decreasing. “Earth to Kris?”

“Hah?” He blurted out. The bell rang shortly after. “Oh. Well, sorry, Claude. Gotta go to Physics, now. Bye!”

~~~

In Physics class, Kris was looking at his computer, analyzing the video Peter had given him about the fight Peter had with the giant dude. If he remembered correctly, it was Ant-Man. But in this case, GiANT-Man. (Sorry not sorry.) He was watching this at the back of the class, so no one knew why he would be watching a Spider-Man video. He was completely indulged in the video while also listening to Mr. Tennant thanks to the fact he learnt the arts of multitasking. Especially after he multitasked doing his homework while doing his Physics equations for Peter. Mr. Tennant was in front of the class, pacing back and forth with the pointer stick in his hand.

“Okay, so how do we calculate the linear acceleration between points A and B?” He explained. He pointed to Brad, who already had his hand shot into the air. Brad looked at Mr. Tennant, and swiftly looked down to his textbook, frantically searching. He found what he was looking for and answered.

“It’s the product of sine of the angle and gravity divided by the mass.”

“Nope.” Another hand went up, but Mr. Tennant ignored it and called out a student who was clearly having difficulty focusing on the lecture. Kris.

“Kristian. You with us?”

Kris looked up. “Uh… Uh… yeah, yeah.” He closed the laptop lid, revealing a simple gravity pendulum. All those hours of Peter forcing him to learn calculus and physics to prepare for web-swinging has come to play. He played around with his pen while explaining. Not to show off, but to cool off from the sudden amount of stress instilled on him by Mr. Tennant. “Mass cancels out, so it’s just gravity times sine.”

Mr. Tennant grinned. “Right. See, Brad, being the fastest isn’t always the best if you are _wrong_.” The classroom started to fill with laughter. Brad turned to Kris.

“You’re _dead_ ,” Brad mouthed. Kris ignored it and looked down to glance at his watch. 11:38am.

~~~

“Today, we’ll be talking about Danish physicist Niels Bohr, but trust me, there is nothing Bohr-ing about his discoveries regarding quantum theory.” As Mr. Cobbwell continued on his introduction to Bohr, Kris opened his notes to a page titled _Web Fluid version 3.01._ There, you can see molecule diagrams and a list of liquid such as salicylic acid, toluene, and methanol.

Kris tilted over and opened a drawer. Inside the open drawer wasa beaker. Kris quickly and stealthily poured some orange liquid in it and stirred the concoction. It started to increase in volume, running over the beaker walls. When Kris lifted the glass stirring rod, the compound stuck to it like a spiderweb. Flustered, he quickly shut the drawer and looked at his watch again. It’s 12.35 p.m.

~~~

A Homecoming banner is hung over the clock on the cafeteria wall by a student, who is standing on a ladder to help do so. “Did Lysithea get a new book?” Kris asked.

“Nope. She’s just rereading the Dear Evan Hansen book,” Claude answered. 

“Huh. Well, we should probably stop staring before it gets creepy, though,” Kris said.

“Yeah,” Claude mouthed.

“You know we can _hear_ you, right?” Gwen said as she and Lysithea plopped down in a seat together. 

“And you proceed to sit with us,” Claude commented.

“Because there’s nowhere else to sit, you dork,” Lysithea responded, still not looking up from her book. Kris and Claude craned their necks a little higher, and like what Lysithea had said, there really was nowhere else to sit. “But you guys are cool.”

Gwen looked like she wanted to die the moments those words slipped from Lysithea’s mouth. Lysithea quickly buries her face in her novel even deeper than earlier.

“Thanks, Lysithea,” Kris said, and thank the Gods his voice didn’t crack.

Gwen quickly whispered to her ear. “For a pair of dorks,” Lysithea quickly added. “Sorry, that was a weird pause I put right in the middle of my sentence. I meant: you guys are _cool_ , for a pair of dorks.”

“Thanks, Lysithea,” Kris said again, his voice much drier this time.

She smirked at him. “You’re welcome.”

A bunch of the Decathlon members join the table. Kris shifted uncomfortably. “So. We have a week before nationals. We don’t have anyone as strong as you in Physics,” Their senior, Tyler, said.

“Y-you got Brad!” Kris quickly said.

For once, Brad was actually happy Kris spoke. He (Kris) wondered why. He turned to Tyler. “You got _me!_ ”

Ah. There’s the reason.

“Everyone prefers Kris,” Gwen responded for practically everyone at the table. Claude nodded in agreement, while Brad squinted his eyes at her. 

“Look. They’re not going to do a Physics challenge two years in a row. You’ll be fine.” Kris picked up his bag, but immediately got hit by a barrage of paper balls. “Guys, I’m sorry, I gotta—guys, stop. Stop. Look. I’m sorry. I gotta go.”

“Boo.”

“Screw you.”

“Guys, stop.”

Kris grabbed his tray and walked off. Tyler stood up. “Kris. Look, I get it. Okay? It’s a lot to juggle, everything. When I was a sophomore, I struggled too. But we’re really counting on you.”

“I know, Tyler. And I’m really sorry. But I just can’t, right now. My schedule’s really cramped…” Kris placed his tray in the tray rack.

“Don’t you wanna go to D.C.? And see the White House, hang out with the whole team? It’ll be fun.”

“I really do. I just… I c— _can’t._ ”

~~~

A poster hung on the auditorium wall. It’s for the Academic Decathlon nationals taking place in Washington D.C. on October 13-15. The Decathlon practice had commenced. Tyler is standing at a podium, reading the quiz cards. Claude, Hilda, Gwen, and Brad, (Brad had his feet propped on the table like the show off he is.) are seated on the stage. Bells are placed in front of them. 

“Let’s move to the next question. What’s the heaviest naturally-occurring element?” Tyler asked as he shuffled through the quiz cards and shook his right leg.

“Hydrogen’s the lightest,” Claude answered. He soon realized it wasn’t even the question at all and tries to play it off as naturally as possible without sounding like a complete dork. “That’s not the question. Okay. Yeah.”

That plan Claude had ultimately backfired on him. In fact, his dorkiness practically dialled up to eleven.

Gwen lightly tapped on the bell. “Uranium.” Brad, who had been frantically searching with his book, proceeded to glare at her.

“That’s… correct. Thank you, Gwen.” Tyler said. Gwen pumped her fist in the air and mouthed a ‘yes’. “Please open your books to page ten.”

A few feet away, Kris conversed with Mr. Harrington, the teacher who was in charge of the Decathlon team. “Kristian, it’s nationals. Is there no way you could take the weekend off?”

“I can’t go to Washington, because if Mr. Stark needs me, then I have to make sure that I’m… _here._ ” Kris answered quietly.

“You’ve never even been in the same room as Tony Stark.” Brad loudly said. How did _he_ hear that answer?

“Wait, what’s happening?” Ashley asked. Another student, who was lying on her lying on her stomach and studying her notes, answers her.

“Kris isn’t going to Washington.”

“No. No, no, no, no, no. No. No.” Ashley hastily said. She meant something else, being why Brad said what he said. 

“We have to have Brad stand in for Kris, don’t we?” Gwen muttered with a slightly dejected look.

“Well, he already quit marching band and robotics lab.” Lysithea said, assuming that Kris was probably planning to leave the club at any moment. Everyone looked at Lysithea, who was leaning on the wall with a book, with a suspicious look on their faces. Gwen tapped her fingers on the table nervously. But it was morse code. And because Lysithea had experience with morse code, thanks to her dad being a commissioner, understood it. “I’m not obsessed with him, just very observant. You pick up some stuff when your dad is a commissioner.”

Gwen facepalmed quietly. She knew that if she added more details, her classmates would put two and two together and find out why she observed him. And it wasn’t about her dad being a cop.

“Okay… Brad, you’re in for Kris.”

“Ooh, I don’t know. I gotta check my calendar first.” Brad pulls out his phone to ‘check his calendar’. “I got a hot date with Black Widow coming up.” He said with a smug look on his face that was directed toward Kris. Kris cringed at the mere thought. Brad? On a date with Black Widow? That’s definitely one thing he’d like to forget.

Claude pressed his bell. “That is false.”

“What did I tell you about using the bell for comedic purposes?”

~~~

Kris started fidgeting violently as he looked back and forth from his watch to the worksheet he was given in front of him. It was partially done. Fingers drummed the desk rhythmically, foot tapping on the floor until finally, the clock hit 2:45 p.m. and the school bell rings. The bell barely stopped ringing before Kris reached the front steps of the building. Looking around to check if anyone’s watching him, he leapt over a fence taller than himself without touching it.


	2. New York Debut

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After finally getting out of school, Kris ran to a nearby convenience store before the real fun he had been waiting for begins.

“Hey, Mr. Conagher,” Kris said as he did a little jog to where Pocky was. He grabbed a Kool-Aid Orange from the fridge of the convenience store, and walked over to Mr. Conagher.

“Mr. Echarri. Hot bread, and Number 5 as usual, right?”

“Yeah.” Kris said as he placed his items onto the counter.

“So. How’s school?” Mr. Conagher asked.

Kris folded his arms. “Great. Uh, got better things to do.” 

“Stay in school, kid. Stay in school. Otherwise, you’re gonna end up like me.” Mr. Conagher gestured to the store as a whole.

“Aren’t _you_ an engineer, too?”

“No, that’s my brother. Dell.”

“Oh.” Kris puffed his cheeks awkwardly, leaning on the counter. 

“Best sandwiches in Midtown,” Mr. Conagher said as he passed Kris the sandwiches and bread.

Kris left the store and ran across the street with a bag of snacks and a drink in his hand. He passed under an elevated train track, holding up his palm at a cab that honked at him, and ran into an alley. He takes off his shoes and throws them aside. He seemed to be in a hurry.

From his backpack, Kris pulled out his red and blue Spider-Man suit. Or a Kid-Arachnid suit, to be specific. He knocked over a garbage can as he awkwardly took off his pants. He yanked off his shirt and sweater, then stepped into his suit, wearing only his boxers. Jumping, he pulled the full-body suit up over his legs. Kris fit his arms into the sleeves by shaking them a little, then put on the mask, which covered his entire head. The baggy suit hung loosely over his frame.

Kris webbed his backpack against a dumpster, then hit the spider emblem on his chest. The material shrunk, fitting him snugly. 

He pressed a button on his web-shooter, activating hologram displays, adjusting the lenses on his high tech mask, and jumped onto the roof of a building. “NY Debut” from Turn Off The Dark starts to play in his head as he leapt across roofs with his sandwich bag and Kool-Aid in hand. Crouching down a ledge, he looked down at the streets and sighed. “Finally.”

“Okay, Suit Lady. Pinpoint the nearest robbery. Or just anything crime-related,” Kris said as he opened his can of Kool-Aid and took a sip. 

“ _There is a mugging going on. It’s a two-minute swing from here,_ ” Suit Lady responded.

“Okay…” Kris started swinging, eating his bread before it got cold from the wind whipping at it. He narrowly missed the ground by swinging between two cars and continued on swinging towards the location.

~~~

“Give me all your money!” The mugger shouted. Kris dropped down to a rooftop. From above, he could see that it was his cousins against what looked like at least twenty other muggers. 

“Hey, buddies!” Kris dropped down. “Does it really take this many muggers to rob five highschool girls?” The goons looked at Kris and ran at him. 

Kris punched a goon and webs him to the floor. Two other goons try to get him from behind, but he backflips over them, webs both of their heads, and pulls it together, making both of their heads slam into each other. 

“For a punch! Press one! For a kick! Press two!” He quipped as he continued dodging the criminal’s swings at him. “If we stop now, we can have cupcakes! It worked before!”

Kris proceeded to make quick work of them and webbed them up quickly. “Okay, uh…” he turns to his sisters. “You’re… free to go? Isa-—” he was about to list out their names, but had suddenly remembered: They didn’t know their cousin was Kid-Arachnid. 

“Thanks…” the Quints awkwardly said, walking off.

“You’re welcome!” He called out after them.

~~~

Kris slowly stood up on the edge of a building, the flag of the United States billowing in the wind behind him when a man called out. “Hey! You’re that new Spider-Man on YouTube, right?”

“Call me Kid-Arachnid!” Kris shouted back.

“Okay, Kid-Arachnid! Do a flip!”

Kris obliged and flipped, with the man cheering. One moment, Kris swung down from rooftops and yelled, and another moment, he was patiently giving directions to an old Dominican lady. And thanks to In The Heights, his Spanish improved. Slightly. And another moment, he’s on a thin strand of web, suspended between a building and an old, rusty water tank. He practiced his tightrope skills with it, too.

~~~

With a thin slab of metal, a man used it to try to open a car door. Kris saw this, and jumped onto the roof of the car. “Hey, buddy!” He then used his web to slam the man’s head onto the car. The car started to make loud beeping noises. “You shouldn’t steal cars. It’s bad.” He webbed the man’s hand to the car and jumped off.

“It’s my car, _dumbass!_ ”

An old woman, around seventy-eighty, looks out from her window and starts to shout at Kris. All hell breaks loose. “Hey! Shut that off!”

“I was just tryin’ to—”

“Can you tell him it’s my car?” The man interjected.

“I work at night! Come on, dude!” A day sleeper complained.

“That’s not your car! That’s _his_ car!” An old man shouted.

“How was I supposed to know? He was putting that thing through the window!” Kris shouted back.

“Every day with these damn alarms!”

“Shut it off!”

The neighbors continued to shout at Kris. An old, white-haired man wearing sunglasses shouted at Kris. “Don’t make me come down there, you punk!” 

But then the old woman noticed him from the building across the street. “Hey, Gary! How are you doing?”

“Marjorie, how are you? How’s your mother?”

~~~

While swinging through some buildings, Kris jumped through a fire escape and narrowly dodged the stairs that were blocking his way. He spun a web too high, which, by going by the laws of Physics, made his distance from the ground too narrow, but his death perception for his feet had screwed him over, and thanks to the sudden friction, he tripped over and landed face-flat.

He stood up and started shouting, “I’m good! I’m good!” like as if anyone could hear or care about a superhero that just made a stupid mistake.

~~~

Kris sat on a fire escape, with his bag of snacks in hand. He opened up the sandwiches, lifted up his mask to show only his mouth, and started eating it. 

“Relishing,” He joked, even if it didn’t even have relish at all. He pulled out his phone and started to dial Happy’s number. He sighed, knowing that Happy wouldn’t even answer and would probably just send him to voicemail. 

“ _You have reached the voicemail box of: Happy. Hogan._ ”

“Hey, Happy! Um, so here’s my report for tonight. I stopped a grand theft bicycle. Couldn’t find the owner, so I just left a note. Oh, and I also stopped a mugging that my sisters were in the middle of—well, they’re my sisters, but not _really_ my sisters. They’re more of my cousins, but you get the idea, right? Probably not, but, um… I also helped this lost, old, Dominican Lady. She was really nice and bought me a churro. So I just, um… feel like I could be doing more. You know? Just curious when I get my first real mission. So, yeah, just call me back. It’s Kristian. Echarri.” Kris pulled the phone out of his ear and sighed. 

“Why’d I tell him about the churro?”

He looked down at his web-shooters, to see that the UI is telling him to refill. He ejected the cartridge, then scrambled to catch it, standing sideways off the fire escape. He placed the cartridge on his belt and spotted four men entering a closed bank. “Finally, something good,” He muttered as he pulled down his mask.

~~~

Inside the ATM, a robber wearing a Hulk mask was cutting the ATM with a high tech tool that has a glowing thing inside, it seemed to be the power core. “Yo, this high tech stuff makes it too easy.”

“Told you it was worth it.”

Another robber used a high tech device to grab and pull off the front of the ATM. The huge chunk of metal was suspended in the air. Other robbers started to bag the cash.

“Oh, nice.”

“We can hit, like, five more places tonight.”

Behind them, Kris silently came through the door and awkwardly tried to strike a casual but cool-looking pose. He cleared his throat.

"Sup, guys? Forgot your PIN number?" The robbers turn to him, revealing that they were wearing cheap plastic masks of the Avengers. The Hulk, Captain America, Thor, and Iron man. “Woah, you’re the _Avengers!_ What're you guys doing here?” He gasped.

One of the robbers loaded his gun but Kris used his web to grab it and hit “Iron Man” and “Thor” with it. He then proceeded to push “Hulk” away. His sticky feet held “Thor” and threw him into a wall. 

“Thor. Hulk. Good to finally meet you guys.” He turned around to “Thor”. “I thought you’d be more handsome in person.”

Kris was hanging upside down from the ceiling when “Iron Man” started to throw aimless punches at him. “Iron Man! Hey, what are you doing robbing a bank? You’re a _billionaire._ ”

“Hulk” comes up with a high tech weapon. Kris quickly dodges a punch from “Iron Man,” who loses balance and ends up punching “Hulk” instead. They both fall to the ground. Meanwhile, “Captain America” succeeded in picking up the high tech device that had been used to pull the metal chunk off the ATM and aimed it at Kris. 

Kris jumped at him but was suspended in the air for a short time. His voice was completely distorted when he said, 

“Oh! This feels so weird!” He was thrown against a wall. “Whoah, what is that thing?!” He was once more caught in the force field of the device and is thrown back and forth between the ceiling and the floor.

“I'm starting... to think... you're not... the Avengers!” He said, each word coming out with every hit he takes between the ceiling and floor, his voice distorted, again. With his sticky fingers, he held onto the ground and shot his web at a desk in the corner. He pulled on it and hit “Captain America” with his force field device.

Money started to fly everywhere around the bank, with the “Avengers” fighting him. At least, attempting to. With Suit Lady still bugging him to stop, Kris managed to ignore her. “Alright guys, let’s wrap this up. It’s a school night.”

Kris kicked “Thor” into a glass wall, making it crack. “Iron Man” held up the force field device, but before he could do anything, Kris webbed the device against the glass and jumped onto "Iron Man," and checked his face underneath the mask. “So, how do muffin-heads like you get tech like this?”

“Hulk” fired up the device that cut through metal.

Kris quickly pulled “Iron Man” and himself out of the way. The plasma blast cut through walls and hit Mr. Conagher’s store across the street. The deli-grocery burst into flames. 

Kris quickly ran into the decimated store. “Hey, Mr. Conagher! Is anybody in here? Hello?” 

He helped Mr. Conagher, who was wheezing and coughing but alive, out of the burning building. Murphy the cat was safe in Kris' arms, too. But when he turned to the bank, he found that it was empty. The robbers had escaped.

“Oh, come on. You’ve got to be—“ The cat started to meow. Kris handed Murphy to Mr. Conagher. 

“Here. Here.”


	3. Kris' Midtown Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a full day of superhero-ing, Kris returned home. Only for trouble to come along. After an awkward night at his house, he headed to school, where things don't go as he planned.

Kris flipped onto a rooftop, mask in hand and constantly looking around in case anybody decided to go to the rooftops at night.“Happy, the craziest thing just happened to me. These guys were robbing an ATM with these high tech weapons—”

“ _Hey, take a breath, okay? I don't have time for ATM robberies…_ ”

“Yeah, but—”

“ _…or the thoughtful notes you leave behind. The Avengers are bringing some of their stuff over to a new facility._ ”

Kris stopped in his tracks. “Wait, you’re _moving? Who’s_ moving?”

“ _Yeah, don’t you watch the news? Tony sold Avengers Tower. We’re moving to a different location upstate, where, hopefully, the cell service is much worse._ ”

“But what if Mr. Stark needs me or something at the tower? Or, I don't know, something big goes down? Look, can I please just talk to Mr. Stark?”

“ _Look, just stay away from anything too dangerous. I'm responsible for making sure you're responsible, okay?_ ”

Kris dropped down to the alleyway he had previously kept his backpack with his mask off. “I am responsible!” He turned to the dumpster where he webbed his backpack, and it’s gone. “I—Oh, muffins. My backpack's gone.”

“ _That doesn’t sound responsible._ ”

“I’ll call you back…”

“ _Feel free not to._ ”

Kris put his mask back on and ran out of the alley.

~~~

Kris climbed up the apartment building, still clad in his Spider-Man suit. He slid the top of his bedroom window open and looked inside. Marilynn passed in front of his open door.

Kris climbed into the bedroom via his ceiling and closed the window with his foot. He pulled off his mask, threw it away, and crawled across the ceiling. Trying to make no sound, he pushed the door close and hopped down to the floor. He heard a quiet click as the door latch slides into place. 

Kris made a turn to find Claude sitting on his bed. Shocked, mouth agape. His grip on the Lego S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier loosened. It effortlessly slid out of his hands and crashed to the ground and broke down into pieces. Claude gets up from the bed.

“You just dropped a hundred buck’s worth of Legos.” Kris blurted out, even when it’s not even the current topic at all. Claude stood up quickly.

“What was that?” Ivy called.

Kris turns around. “UH, IT’S NOTHING! _NOTHING!_ ” He turns back to Claude with a worried look on his face.

“You’re the Kid-Arachnid… From _YouTube,_ ” Claude said, completely ignoring Kris’ remark, paired with intense breathing as he said his sentence.

“I’m not. I’m _not,_ ” Kris answered in an attempt to hide his secret identity, as if it would really do anything. He pressed the spider emblem on his chest. The suit became baggy again with a zipper sound and fell down from his body. It would definitely be a weird scene to walk into, with or without context.

“You were on the _ceiling!_ ” He said with his finger pointed to the ceiling and his voice quiet, but his pitch was high.

“No, I wasn’t. Claude, what are you doing in my _room?_ ”

“Isabelle let me in—you said we were gonna finish the Helicarrier!”

“You can't just _bust_ into my room!” Kris quickly said.

Marilynn opened the door. She waved a rag in front of her face to dissipate the smoke coming from the kitchen. “I should really learn how to cook…” she turned to see Kris, who's practically half-naked except for his boxers and the suit around his ankles. “Uh... I'll just... just... McDonalds later, okay? Claude?”

“He’s got a thing,” Kris quickly answered, puffing his cheeks awkwardly.

“A thing to do after…” Claude added.

“And, also, it's not what it looks like. I _swear._ ”

“Okay…” Kris looked down. “Uh.. we’ll, just… McDonalds is on the way.” Marilynn closed the door and Kris walked around, putting a sweater on and shorts on.

“She doesn’t _know?_ ” Claude whispered.

“ _Nobody_ knows!” Kris answered. He figured that he might as well, seeing as Claude had already found out. “Well, only Peter Parker and Mr. Stark know, because Mr. Stark made the suit, and Peter is the… um, my mentor.”

“ _Tony Stark_ made you that?” Claude freaked out, still whispering. He calmed down suddenly. “Are you an Avenger?”

__Kris shrugged. “Yeah, basically.”_ _

__Claude clutches at Kris’ bed, breathing heavily._ _

__“You _can’t_ tell anybody about this. You gotta keep it a secret,” Kris quickly said._ _

__Claude’s brain still couldn’t comprehend that Kris is Kid-Arachnid, and while he usually understood why heroes keep their identities secrets because of how many comics he had read, he proceeded to say, “A secret? _Why?_ ”_ _

__“Because you _know_ what they’re like! If they find out people try to kill me every single night, the Quints are not gonna let me _do_ this anymore! Come on, Claude. _Please._ ” Kris rapidly said._ _

__“Okay. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. I’ll level with you. I don’t think I’d be able to keep this a secret. This is the greatest thing that ever happened to me, Kris!”_ _

__“Claude, they can _not_ know. I can _not_ do that to them. With everything already going on, just— _please._ ”_ _

__“Okay.”_ _

__“Just swear it, okay?”_ _

__“I swear.”_ _

__“Thank you.”_ _

__“Yeah.”_ _

__Kris walked around, running his fingers through his hair._ _

__“Can I try the suit on?”_ _

__“No.”_ _

__“How does it work? Is it magnets? How do you shoot the strings?” Claude asked._ _

__"I’m gonna tell you about this at school tomorrow, okay?" Kris explained as he brought Claude to the door. The second Claude exited the room, he leaned on the door and facepalms._ _

__~~~_ _

__Kris ate McDonalds with Isabelle, Nicolette, Marilynn, Abby , and Ivy. It would be filled with awkward silence, had the tv not been playing. The only thing that was playing that night was the news, and, from what Kris heard, it had something to do with “Charged Sizemonium”. It somewhat seemed important to him, so he listened._ _

__“...Charged Sizemonium detonates when in contact with radiation. So I suggest you don't bring it anywhere near it.”_ _

__Kris remembered his backpack issue and looked at Isabelle. “Isabelle?” She looked up. “I… uh… I need a new backpack.” He quickly said before flashing his line-mouth in an attempt to smile._ _

__Isabelle puts a finger to her ear, disbelief clear on her face. “What?”_ _

__“I need a new backpack.” He said, slightly softer this time._ _

__“That's at least the fifth time this week…”_ _

__“Hey, d’you know Kid-Arachnid saved us?” Abby asked Kris._ _

__Kris looks up and tries his best to pretend he didn’t know._ _

__“What? No way.”_ _

__~~~_ _

__The next morning, Kris was walking down the street with Claude, carrying a huge stack of thick books in his arms due to the loss of his backpack._ _

__“So _that_ explains why you looked sick at the ESU field trip! Well, it honestly must have hurt, but it’s probably worth it, right? Do you have some psychic connection with the spider, now?”_ _

__“The spider's _dead_ , Claude.” Kris cut the conversation short, allowing no room for further discussion on the subject. Especially in public. Claude shrugged and looked ahead. His (Claude's) eyes go wide._ _

__“Whoah.” Kris and Claude stop short, examining Mr. Conagher’s. It is almost burnt down, the store name almost illegible. Police tape and barricades surround the shop. Various police officers and crime scene investigators are working around it. “You were _here?_ ”_ _

__Kris warily eyed the agents standing near the scene. “Yeah.”_ _

__“You could have _died… _” The teens stared at the badly damaged building. Expressions were completely serious.___ _

____“Do you lay _eggs?_ ”_ _ _ _

____“What? No!” Kris laughed at the absurd and anticlimactic suggestion._ _ _ _

____~~~_ _ _ _

____In the middle of a chemistry lecture. A bunsen burner was boiling a dark-colored liquid on the desk. Kris and Claude were wearing safety glasses. Claude rolled over in his chair toward Kris, who was scribbling in his notebook. “Can you spit venom?”_ _ _ _

____“Nope.” He answered, not looking away from his notebook._ _ _ _

____“No venom strike, or camouflage?”_ _ _ _

____“What _venom strike?_ ” Kris asked, finally looking up from his notebook._ _ _ _

____“I don’t know, isn’t it a cool name, though?”_ _ _ _

____“I guess…”_ _ _ _

____~~~_ _ _ _

____“The Sokovia Accords were put into place…” Claude leaned near Kris’ shoulder and engaged in a whispered conversation with him._ _ _ _

____“How far can you shoot your webs?”_ _ _ _

____“It’s unknown. Quiet.”_ _ _ _

____“Can you _really_ blame a guy who just found out his friend is Kid-Arachnid for NOT wanting to ask questions?” Claude muttered._ _ _ _

____~~~_ _ _ _

____A small, old television was set up beside Coach Wilson, the PE teacher, who was standing with a bored expression. _Captain America’s Fitness Challenge_ is playing on the screen. Captain America, in his full uniform, smiled pleasantly, standing in a locker room._ _ _ _

____“ _Hi. I’m Captain America. Whether you’re in the classroom or on the battlefield…_ ”_ _ _ _

____Midtown High students were sitting in neat rows on the bleachers, watching Captain America give a speech on screen. Behind Kris and Claude, Lysithea was completely engrossed in another book. “Did you spar with him at one point?” Claude whispered to Kris, leaning a bit closer so his voice wouldn't be too loud._ _ _ _

____“No, not really.”_ _ _ _

____“ _...fitness can be the difference between success or failure._ ”_ _ _ _

____“...Peter and I stole his shield and used it for sledding.” Kris boasted, feigning nonchalance. Claude’s jaw dropped. They continued to watch the television with their classmates._ _ _ _

____“ _Today, my good friend, your gym teacher…_ ” Captain America pointed to his right. Coach Wilson, who was apparently standing on the wrong side, waved his hand to the students. “ _...will be conducting the Captain America Fitness Challenge. _”___ _ _ _

______He raised his hand in a salute. The screen transitioned to ‘ _Station I: Sit-ups_ ’. “Thank you, Captain. I’m pretty sure this guy's a war criminal now, but whatever. I have to show these videos. It’s required by the state. Let’s do it.” Coach Wilson blew his whistle._ _ _ _ _ _

______Midtown High School students were engaged in various exercises. Climbing ropes, doing chin-ups, push-ups, etcetera. Kris was lying on a mat and doing sit-ups. Claude was holding his legs in place for him by gripping on his ankles. “Hey, can I be your guy in the chair?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“What?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Yeah. You know how there’s a guy with a headset telling the other guy where to go?” Kris' face contorted into a weird expression. He was still doing sit-ups faster than any other student. “Like, like if you're stuck in a burning building, I could tell you where to go. Because there’d be screens around me, and I could, you know, swivel around, and… ‘Cause I could be your guy in the chair.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Claude, I don’t need a guy in the chair,” Kris responded. Coach Wilson passed them._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Looking good, Echarri.” The teacher pointed at Kris as he passed the mat that Kris and Claude are working out on. Kris glanced at him then frowned and took a huffing breath, trying to look as if the exercise was really taking a toll on him. Over at the bleachers, Kris could hear his seniors conversing. And it wasn’t his fault his senses were heightened thanks to the spider-bite._ _ _ _ _ _

______“It would be... F Thor, marry Iron Man, and kill Hulk.” Kris and Claude exchange looks, as if to internally say, ' _Oh my god, they're playing 'F, Marry, Kill_ '._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Well, what about Spider-Man? And that new guy, uh, Kid-Arachnid?” One of them asked._ _ _ _ _ _

______“It’s just Spider-Man. Plus, the other guy's name sounds weird.” When the words “Spider-Man” and “Kid-Arachnid” reached Kris and Claude’s ears, they stopped and turn at the same time to see their seniors. Kris felt slightly offended about what his seniors had just said._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Did you guys see the bank security cam on YouTube? He fought off four guys.” Kris’ eyes go wide._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Oh my God, she’s crushing on the Kid-Arachnid guy…”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“No way.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Kind of?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Kris and Claude exchange a look, surprised at the turn of events. Then they look back at them, still listening in on their conversation. “He’s probably like, thirty.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“You don’t even know what he looks like. Like, what if he’s, like, seriously burned?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“I wouldn’t care. I would still love him for the person he is on the inside.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Claude, in a loud voice, blurted out, “Kris knows them!” He slapped a hand over his mouth and shut his eyes. Kris looked at Claude, shocked. Mouth comically agape. Everyone in the gym simultaneously dropped their assignments and stared at Kris. He hurriedly got up and walked to the bleachers. Claude scrambled to his feet to follow him._ _ _ _ _ _

______“No, I don’t. No. I... I mean…”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Brad, who was climbing up a rope, slid down to the ground. “Like how Coach Wilson and Captain America are friends?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Gwen, completely irritated with Brad’s denial just pinches the bridge of her nose. She would have retorted back, but she’s just too done with him to do so. Instead, Kris answers for her. “I’m sorry, but are you just in denial? Or is your brain too poor at processing the truth?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______The whole gym ‘Ooh's’. Brad opened his mouth to say something back, but kept his cool, or else he’ll have the “The Kid That Lost His Cool” title passed onto him. “Hey, you know what? Maybe you should invite him to Ty's party. Right?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Don't call me ‘Ty’. It’s Tyler,” Tyler said, irritated, before turning to Kris. “But yeah, I’m having people over tonight. You guys are more than welcome to come.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Having a party?” Kris quietly said._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Yeah, it’s gonna be dope. You should totally invite your personal friend Spider-Man. Heck, maybe invite that Kid-Arachnid guy, as well!”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Tyler came to Kris’ rescue, saving him from embarrassing himself even further. “It’s okay. I know Kristian’s _way_ too busy for parties anyway, so…”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Brad sauntered closer and walked by Kris, his arm wrapped around him. “Come on. He’ll be there. Right, Kris?” The bell rang. Tilting his head toward Kris in a tiny nod of farewell, Tyler walked off. Kris, frustrated, threw his hands in the air and swiveled to glare at Claude. He moved closer._ _ _ _ _ _

______“What are you _doing?_ ”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Sorry, it came out of instinct, and, also, did you not hear her? One of them has a crush on you. Or, your superhero self, anyway.” Kris hesitated, searching for words. “Dude, you’re an _Avenger!_ If _anyone_ of us has a chance with practically _anyone_ , it's _you_.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Claude walked away. Kris stood rooted in place, considering the idea._ _ _ _ _ _


	4. House Parties Are Fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Claude had unintentionally invited Kris to the party his seniors were throwing, Kris noticed something off at the distance. It's up to him to stop that.

The Quints’ Father’s (Kris’ uncle) secretary drove Kris and Claude to Tyler's house. Exciting, upbeat music poured out from the house. The secretary slowed his car and the Quints talked to the boys. “Are you guys sure you wanna do this?” Ivy asked.

“I, uh…” Claude paused, searching for words before his mouth slowly turned into a crooked smile as he gave two thumbs up. “It—it'll be the night to remember!” He added, with his tone completely giving away that he’s regretting what he did earlier that day.

Nicolette laughed. “Claude, some hats wear men. You _wear_ that hat.”

“It’s my confidence hat.”

Kris looked out the window, removed from the merry conversation taking place beside him. “This is a mistake.” He turned to the Quints. “You know what, can we just go back home?”

Isabelle hesitated, searching for words. “You’ve been... stressed out lately, so…”

“Why not go to a house party?” Abby blurted out. Isabelle looked at her, as if to say ‘I was gonna say go home and watch a movie, but okay’.

Kris changed his mind last-minute, as he always usually does when attempting to make decisions. “Yeah, let's do it. Yeah. I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go.” He opened the car door and stepped out.

“Kris.” Having heard Marilynn call his name, Kris stopped and leaned in to listen to her through the window. Claude got out behind them. “Have fun, okay? And try not to do anything... too crazy.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Claude waved with a worried grin on his face. Kris closed the door and caught up to him. They stiffly approached the house side by side nervously, with the Quints following behind them, meeting up with their friends.

~~~

The front door opened, revealing Kris and Claude. They entered the crowded house party and glanced around anxiously. Kris looked especially nervous. Two girls passed by in front of them, not taking any interest in their arrival. They walked around and saw Brad running the DJ station with headphones and a black jacket+yellow shirt combination.

“ _D-D-D-DJ Brad!_ ”

Claude leaned nearer towards Kris so nobody would really hear what he was gonna say. He wasn’t the type to do something wild-like. “Okay. We’re gonna have Kid-Arachnid swing in, say you guys are tight, and then I get a fist bump or one of those half bro-hugs.”

“Can’t believe you guys actually came to this lame party.” Kris and Claude turned to the left and saw Gwen and Lysithea. Both of them were in the process of spreading jam on their slices of toast, eating it like an open-faced sandwich.

“But you're here too?” Claude countered, with his tone heightening at the ‘too’.

“Are we?” They said in complete unison. The mere synchronization of their voices alone kind of scared both (Kris and Claude) of them. Kind of. They two girls took a bite on their toasts with a loud crunching sound and walked off.

“Oh, hey guys.” When Kris heard Tyler's voice, his eyes went wide. He turned his head towards the sound. Tyler walked down the hallway to Kris and Claude. “Cool hat, Claude.”

“Hi, Tyler.”

“Hi, Tyler.” Kris’ high-pitched and squeaky voice betrays his nervousness.

“I’m so happy you guys came. There’s pizza and drinks. Help yourself.”

“Neat party,” Kris commented in an effort to keep up the conversation. The sound of glass breaking caught their attention, followed by ‘Oh-s!’. Thank God something happened, he wouldn't know what else to say otherwise.

“Oh, I... My parents will kill me if anything's broken. I gotta—”

“Yeah.”

Tyler ran off. Kris and Claude looked around and spotted root beer. 

“Kris, you wanna get drunk on root beer?” Claude referenced how they usually joked about the fact that there’s a small bit of alcohol and say that “If you drink too much, you'll get drunk.”

Kris looked at Claude with slightly solemn eyes. “I’d get drunk with you, but I don’t like the taste. Tastes like cough medicine for me.”

“Alright. How about Kid-Arachnid-ing it up while I go get drunk on a crapton of root beer?” Claude asked. Kris nodded and turned to leave, but was immediately interrupted by none other than Brad.

“What's up, Dork!” Brad shouted into the mic as if it wasn't loud enough already. He followed the sentence up with the infamous ‘MLG Air Horn’. “So, where's your pal Kid-Arachnid? Let me guess. In Canada with your imaginary girlfriend?” He played the air horn noises again with a huge grin on his face. Everyone around them laughed except Kris and Claude.

“That's not Kid-Arachnid. That's just Claude in a red shirt!” He added. The crowd around them booed and chuckled. Kris frowned, determined to prove him wrong.

~~~

A shirt dropped to the floor and joined the already discarded pairs of jeans and shoes. Kris was standing on a roof. He stepped over his clothes, wearing his Kid-Arachnid suit, and pulled off his T-shirt. As he muttered to himself, he tried to find a way to make his voice sound different, and to practice what he was gonna say later on.

“Hey, what's up? I’m Kid-Arachnid. I just thought I’d swing by and say hello to my buddy Kris. Oh, what’s up, Claude? Hey, where’s Kris, anyways? He must be around…” Kris sighed, watching the party through glass walls with a discouraged look and the bridge of his nose pinched. “God, this is stupid. What am I doing?”

Kris spotted Claude looking for him. Then something caught his eyes. A bright blue explosion in the distance. He stood up, staring at it with concern. 

“What the muffin?” Kris ran across the roof and put on his mask. Suit Lady, meanwhile, is still ordering him not to go. (Too lazy to write out her dialogue lmao) Shooting webs through trees, he swung down the street.

He landed on another roof, flipped off of a house, then shot a thin line of spider web over a vast golf course. It flew off, having nothing to attach itself to. Kris began running across the golf course. The sprinklers were activated 

“This _sucks!_ ”

~~~

Beside a bridge, there was a discarded car, scraps of metal ripped out from it. A blue ray shot through the air at a great speed towards it. The car blew up in a huge explosion and made the shooters cringe in surprise. One of them hooted and laughed as bolts of electricity burst out from the explosion. One of the people there powered down the weapon. The fingers stuck out from the end of the gun curl in on themselves, forming a loose fist. “Now, _this_ is crafted from a reclaimed sub-Ultron arm straight from Sokovia. Here. You try.”

The man handed over the weapon to another person, who seemed to be the one buying the weapons, took it. “Man, I wanted something low-key. Why are you trying to upsell me, man?”

Behind them, Kris silently crawled down the side of the bridge. “Okay, okay, okay. I got what you need, all right? I got tons of great stuff here. One sec.”

Hiding, Kris watched as the man walked up to his van and looked inside. Both his suit and normal eyes narrow. The back of the van was full of machinery and weapons. “Okay, I got, uh, black hole grenades, Chitauri railguns…”

“You letting off shots in public now? Hurry up. Look, times are changing. We’re the only ones selling these high tech weapons.”

“Whoah, this must be where the ATM robbers got their stuff,” Kris commented.

“I need something to stick up somebody. I’m not trying to shoot them back in time.”

“I got anti-grav climbers.”

“Yo, _climbers?_ ” The man walked over to the van to see.

Suddenly, Kris’ yodeling ringtone started playing. The weapons dealers look around, alerted.

“Okay, what the hell was that?”

He immediately whipped out his phone to see Claude making a weird face. “Of all the times, _why_ now?” he whispered. He declined the call. He’d have to message him later. One of the men aimed a gun at the buyer.

“You set us up?”

“Hey, hey, man.”

Kris flipped off the wall and landed on two feet. “Hey! hey, come on. You gonna shoot at someone, shoot at me!” 

“All right.” The man turned the gun on Kris, but he shot his web, disarming the guy, and charged. Using a high tech gauntlet from his van, one of them punched Kris with a burst of energy. He was slammed into the side of the bridge and landed on the ground. One of them jumped in and started the car. The guy who punched Kris, laughing triumphantly, jumped onto the back of the van as his accomplice drove off.

“What was that?” Kris shot his web, attaching it to the weapon dealers’ open van door. The van dragged in through a neighborhood, knocking him into a trash can. He shot a second strand of webs. He is now holding on with two thin lines of web, trying to maintain balance. Brice fired another burst of energy. It broke off the van door. The door breaking off had caused Kris to start sliding around. “Ow, my _butt!_ ”

The man powered more energy blasts at Kris, causing him to lose his grasp on one of the webs. Just as one of the men powered up the weapon once more, the van met a road bump. The whole car wobbled, making him accidentally fire a hole in the van. He dropped the weapon and it rolled out of the vehicle. The weapons came to a stop in someone's yard.

They made a sharp turn, making Kris slam into the side of a parked car. He then got dragged through a line of garbage bins. He hit a solid brick pillar and dropped to the ground along with a heap of bricks. His webs broke off. The man driving checked the side mirror. Kris had recovered from the collision and is now running to get a clean shot, his hand outstretched. The web travelled through the air and attached itself to the remaining van door, but the door broke off, already weakened by the rough treatment it received. He threw his arms up, exasperated. “ _Great!_ ”

He turned to his right. “Guess I'm gonna have to take a shortcut!” Kris jogged on the sidewalk, jumping over a tall metal gate, and slid over a parked car. Two men were playing ping-pong in a garage as Kris ran across the yard. “Hey, guys! Good game! Have fun!”

The neighbors stopped their game and gaped after him in disbelief. A dog ran into Kris, barking and standing on its hind legs to lick his masked face. “Hey, hey, buddy!” Kris retrieved a ball with his web and threw it to the side for the dog. “Sorry, no time to play. Here, go fetch.”

Kris swung through the neighborhood, hanging on tree branches and streetlights. “Whoo! Now, _this_ is more like it.” He glided into another yard. Shooting his web, he accidentally held onto a treehouse and knocked it off the tree. That made him lose his grasp and land hard on the roof of a shed. It collapsed under his sudden additional weight. “Whoah, whoah, whoah!”

After a few awkward banging noises, Kris ripped through the door, ran across the yard, and slams through a wooden fence. He leapt into the air only to land on a small toy car, which rolled forward. Losing his balance, Kris got tangled in a soccer net and stumbled through the hedge. He waved his hand to a man having a barbecue in his own backyard. “Smells really good!”

"Ferris Bueller’s Day Off" is playing on the television at a pool party, the sequence closely resembling Kris' travel through the neighborhood. 

Suddenly, Kris swings in. “Great movie!” He skimmed over the pool, splashing water over the partygoers and making them scream in surprise.

He then got tangled in fairy lights and crash landed on another yard, right beside two little girls having a sleepover in a tent. The eyes on his mask malfunctioned, fluttering open and close in a creepy fashion. “Ugh... Oh, hey, guys!” The girls scream, and the tent flipped over in the girls’ overzealous attempt to escape.

~~~

Claude stealthily brought his phone up to his ear, only to reach Kris’ voicemail.

“ _Hey, it’s Kris! Leave a message!_ ”

He groaned. The phone played a beeping tone and he started whispering. “Kris, where are you? The hat’s not working. This is not cool.”

~~~

The van zoomed down the suburban street. Smoke was billowing out from the back of it. Kris fell from above, narrowly missing the car. “Almost got you.”

He knocked over some garbage bins in his attempt to leap up onto a roof. Running across the roofs of neighboring houses, Kris tried his best to keep the van in sight. Slates became loose and fell off the roof under Kris’ feet. He tripped, but caught himself with his sticky fingers. “Thought you got away from me, didn’t you? I got you… right… where I want you.”

Finally catching up, Kris jumped toward the van. 

“ _Surprise!_ ” Suddenly, Vulture snatched him from behind, flying in the wingsuit, and soared high. Kris screamed, Suit Lady was freaking out, and he looked down at the villain. “What the _frick?_ ”

Even with the sudden attack, Kris was still able to deal with the sudden surprise, despite the adrenaline pumping through his veins. He landed a couple of hits on him, and he’s making a couple of jokes. Without Kris’ knowledge, however, Suit Lady sent a distress signal to Tony.

Kris wrestled to pull his leg free from Vulture’s grasp. Noticing the struggle, Vulture trained his glowing eyes at him menacingly and carried him even higher. Vulture didn’t want to kill him. He just wanted to scare him enough to not go after them. 

“Maximum height exceeded.”

A parachute unfolded itself from the hidden compartment behind, at Kris’ back spider. The air resistance from it ripped Kris from Vulture’s grasp. During his descent, Kris got wrapped up in the fabric. Screaming, he plunged down into the lake. He struggled to free himself from the parachute as he sank deeper and deeper.

Up above, the surface was calm, not betraying Kris’ desperate fight underwater. A figure dove into the water at an admirably fast speed. Iron Man emerged, carrying him. Holding him under his arms. Kris’ head hung, slumped. The eyes on his mask blinked open 

“Oh. Hey.”


	5. Head In The Clouds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Iron Man saved Kris from drowning in the lake, he gave him a dad talk and sent him off. As Kris was strolling back, reflecting, he spotted something he had never seen before.

Kris wrung his mask. Water dripped from it. He was sitting on top of a jungle gym. In front of him, Iron Man floated in the air. “And then he just, he just, like, swooped down like a monster and he picked me up and, uh, he took me up, like, a thousand feet and just dropped me.” After his rambling, a thought popped into his head. He was too occupied with what had just happened to wonder how he found him. “How'd you find me? Did you put a tracker in my suit or something?”

“Your AI alerted FRIDAY, and I also put everything in your suit. Including this heater.” 

The suit was dried instantly, steam rose from it, surrounding Kris. “Whoah… That's better, thanks…” He shivered, his teeth chattering.

“What were you _thinking?_ ”

“The Vulture guy Peter fought before is obviously the source of the weapons. I gotta take him down,” Kris answered with his left hand raised.

“Take him _down_ now, huh? Steady, Crockett, there are people who handle this sort of thing.”

“The Avengers?”

“No, no, no. This is a little below their pay grade.”

“Anyway, Mr. Stark, it's fine. You didn't have to come all the way out here. I had that. I was fine.”

“Oh, I’m not..” Iron Man’s helmet opened, revealing an empty space where Tony's face should have been. Kris’ face displayed visible confusion. “ _…Here._ ”

~~~

India. Tony was dressed in a white kurta and wearing a red scarf around his neck. Behind him, Indian women in saris and garlands were participating in a traditional wedding. 

“Thank God this place has Wi-Fi or you would be toast right now.” A man brought Tony a drink. Tony made a small toast, whispering his gratitude. “Thank Ganesh while you’re at it.”

~~~

Tony continued to talk through the empty suit, his helmet still open. “Look, forget Vulture, please.”

“But why?”

“Why?”

~~~

“Because I _said_ so!” A woman walked to him. Tony demurely bent down in order to help her put a flower garland around his neck. “Sorry, sorry, I’m talking to a teenager.”

~~~

“Stay close to the ground. Build up your game helping little people, like that lady that bought you the churro. Can’t you just be a friendly…” Kris looked down, slightly offended at the ‘I’m talking to a teenager’ remark.

~~~

Tony took a sip from his drink and put it down with a clink. “…neighborhood Kid-Arachnid?”

~~~

“But I’m ready for _more_ than that now.” Kris whined, similar to that of a child that didn’t get his toy.

The helmet clamped down. “No, you are not. Listen to me. If you come across these weapons again, call Happy.”

Kris heard a car engine revving. “Are you driving?”

~~~

Tony got in his car and shut the door. “You know, it's never too early to start thinking about college. I got some pull at MIT. End call.” Tony drove off in his yellow Audi.

~~~

“No, I don't need to go to co— Mr. Stark——”

“ _Mr. Stark is no longer connected._ ”

The Iron Man suit flew off. “That’s awesome,” Kris muttered grudgingly. He dropped down from the jungle gym and reflected, as if he was considering the words Tony had said. But he’s confident he’d be able to take down even Loki. Even if he had just started his career as Kid-Arachnid a little over a year ago. 

Kris approached an empty yard, wearing his mask again. He could hear a dog barking in the distance. “‘ _Stay close to the ground_ ’? What is he talking about?” He muttered.

He stopped walking, spotting something. Kris entered the yard and found a piece of the damaged weapon that had fallen out of the vehicle. He crouched down to tentatively flip it over with his fingertips. “Whoah…” 

It was a glowing energy core, making some sort of noise. He picked up the casing around the energy core and twisted his wrist, inspecting the new item. He had the urge to stand up and hold it upward, doing the Legend of Zelda sound that’d play whenever you got an item. He stopped himself the second his phone rang. He whipped out his phone with flourish and answered the call from Claude.

“Hey, man, what's up? I’m on my way back.” He couldn’t stop looking at the energy core. He would have taken it out, but he had to consider the possibilities. It could be dangerous, or even incinerate his hand with a simple touch. 

“ _Actually, I was calling to say maybe you shouldn’t come. Listen to this._ ”

~~~

Claude pulled his phone off his ear and raised it into the air.

“When I say ‘Kris’, you say ‘The Dork’!”

“Kris!”

“The Dork!”

“Kris!”

“The Dork!”

~~~

Kris could still hear Brad and his friends chanting in the background.

“ _Sorry, Kris. I guess we’re still losers. I’ll see you tomorrow. _”__

__"I’ll see you tomorrow." Kris hung up and carefully lifted the weapon. Metal and wires encase the glowing core. Now that he thought about it, this looked like that Chitauri purple stuff from the Battle Of New York. He looked up, determination clear on his masked face._ _


	6. Kris' Midtown Life Pt. 2 / The Tracker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After discovering the glowing energy core, Kris broke it free from the casing at shop class. When they were able to leave earlier, they discovered the two men from last night heading towards the workshop.

In shop class, Kris hit the weapon core casing with a hammer multiple times, making weird noises. The core emitted purple light as it was partially freed from the metal casing. “Huh…” He starts to pull it apart. Claude joined him.

“Hey, thanks for bailing on me,” Claude said, sarcastically, and at the second he joined in.

“Yeah, well, something came up.” Kris gestured toward the glowing core. Claude looked at it and the mild disdain he had was replaced by fascination. He leaned closer toward the energy core.

“Oh, what is that?”

Kris struggled to take the machine apart, removing the wires that were attached to it and removing the small metal plates. “I don't know. Some guy tried to vaporize me with it.”

“ _Seriously?_ ”

“Yeah.”

“ _Awesome._ ”

Kris looked at Claude at the absurd reaction. Claude realized what he said and quickly added to his sentence. “I mean, _not_ awesome. Totally uncool of that guy. So scary.” Kris gave him a look and continued to work at the casing.

“Well, look, I think it’s a power source.” Despite using his strength, it was still hard to take off. That would have meant this would be durable enough to withstand maybe even Vibranium.

“Yeah, but it's connected to all these microprocessors.” Claude proceeded to point at a complex-looking charging mechanism connected to various wires. “That’s an inductive charging plate. That’s what I use to charge my toothbrush.”

“Whoever’s making these weapons is obviously combining alien tech with ours.” Kris said, still struggling to pull the energy core out. 

“That is literally the coolest sentence anyone has ever said. I just want to thank you for letting me be part of your journey into this amazing—”

Kris was not listening to a word he's saying. He brought up a hammer from under his desk and hit the core really hard. The core popped out from its place, glowing, and creating a loud noise while doing so. Kris and Claude immediately look at the teacher, wondering if they were in trouble. The teacher was reading a book, sitting in his chair. He did not even spare a glance at the commotion they are causing. “Keep your fingers clear of the blades.”

Kris and Claude turned back and looked at the core which popped out. Kris picked up the glowing thing. It buzzed in his hand. It was almost ticklish. “I gotta figure out what this thing is and who makes it,” Kris said.

“We'll go to the lab after class and run some tests.” The core continued glowing in Kris’ hands, before he passed it to Claude. Claude cringed a little at the buzz, not expecting it at all whatsoever. 

“Let's do it.” Kris and Claude proceeded with their complicated, secret handshake.

~~~

Kris and Claude were walking down the hallway. It was empty, because they finished their projects early and were able to get out. “First, I say we put the glowy thing in the mass spectrometer.”

“First, we gotta come up with a better name than ‘glowy thing’,” Kris added.

“Mhm, I guess naming is much more important than finding out what to do with it,” Claude said sassily. Kris groaned at him, while Claude smirked jokingly at him.

“Oh, come on, man. At least it wouldn't be as plain, and, also, it'll be a bit easier to identify it.”

“I guess…”

One of the men from the bridge paired with another one walked in. Kris spoted them and froze instantly. “Frick.” Kris proceeded to throw himself behind a wall. “Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on,” he swiftly whispered.

Claude looked around, then shuffled across the corridor to join Kris by a classroom window. Behind them, the chess club is peacefully playing a game. Kris peered around the corner. He knew that they didn’t know his face at all, but he also knew that they were smart enough to build something that could detect energy from the glowy thing. And if they caught him with it, they could put two and two together, and conclude that he’s Kid-Arachnid. And _that_ is _not_ a thing superheroes want.

“High schools creep me out.” Kris heard one of them say. Kris and Claude peer at them.”They got this funny smell, you know?”

Kris and Claude hide behind the wall again. They carried out a whispered conversation. “Hey, that’s one of the guys that tried to kill me.”

“ _What?_ ”

“Yeah.”

“We gotta get out of here.”

“No, no, no, no, no. I gotta follow them. Maybe they can lead me to the guy that dropped me in the lake.”

“Someone _dropped_ you in a _lake?_ ”

“Yeah, it wasn’t great.” Kris kept peering back and forth at the two men. 

The two men looked around the corridor as if they didn't want anyone to see what they were doing. They proceeded to enter a classroom. Kris followed. “Kris—”

“No, stay there, Claude.”

Claude was left standing alone. Through the window, a student noticed him. He knocked on the window, making Claude turn around, startled. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing.” Down the hall, Kris was trailing the two men. Claude tried to act nonchalant.

“Oh.”

“Yeah. You good?”

“Chess.”

~~~

Kris snuck down a staircase into the classroom, his eyes trained at the two men. The two men were rummaging through the room. “Can you imagine what the boss would say if he knew where we were?”

“It’s saying there was an energy pulse right here.”

Kris slowly walked down the stairs and took off his bag. “There’s no sign of the weapon. And even if it was here, now it’s gone.”

“And so are we.”

One of them turns to look in Kris’ direction. No one was there. An upside-down chair that stood on the table shook a little. Spotting the anomaly, the man walked closer, putting his hand on his gun. He crossed the room and paused by the worktable, scanning the area. As the men headed out, Kris’ hiding spot was actually hidden quite well, as he was clinging under the table. He shot a tiny robotic spider at one of the men’s shoes. It stealthily climbed up the man’s leg.

~~~

Sitting in Kris’ room, Claude held the web-shooter. It projected a hologram model of the city. Kris hopped onto the bed next to Claude. “This is so awesome.”

“I know, right?” Kris responded with an excited voice.

Claude poked it and the model became more defined. “This normal in the Stark Tower or something?”

“Yeah. It’s Tony Stark you’re talking about,” Kris responded, and Claude nodded. The hologram directs itself to a different place. “Huh. They’re in Brooklyn now.”

~~~

Later. Claude was still studying the hologram and Kris hung upside down, his hoodie covering half of his face. He ate Doritos and played around with his LEGO figures, waiting for the bad guys to stop and show their lair.

“Staten Island,” Claude said. Kris nodded with a small 'mhm' while he kept crunching on the chips, swinging back and forth with the top half of his body.

~~~

Night had fallen. Claude lied on the floor while Kris worked at his desk. Claude glanced at the hologram. “Leaving Philadelphia.”

Kris pulled a lever on his desk and slotted in a new cartridge on his web-shooter. A characterized image of his mask shone on the wall. He was happy with it. For the first few seconds. It grew too hot and he immediately ejected the cartridge.

~~~

Later. Claude lied on the bed, bored out of his mind. The hologram model started to beep. Startled, he sat up, wearing the Kid-Arachnid mask. He grabbed the hologram model next to him. “They stopped.”

Kris slinked down, hanging from the ceiling. He turned around, a little groggy, and eyed the model. It was a surprise. He didn’t expect them to be there. “ _New Jersey?_ ”

“What’s there?”

“I don’t know. Evil lair?”

“They have a _lair?_ ”

“Dude. A gang with alien guns run by Vulture? Yeah, they probably have a lair. Isn’t that what all villains do, anyway?” Kris took the web-shooter and held it to the level of his eyes, turning it so that it wouldn’t be upside down for him.

Claude nodded in agreement. “You got a point there. Besides, like they always say…”

“Everything’s legal in New Jersey,” They both said. Kris and Claude shared a laugh and fist bumped. 

“Badass. Anyway, you should be able to make it,” Claude asked. He knew that Kris didn't want anyone, _especially_ Tony or Peter to know what he was up to. They simultaneously turned to face the Academic Decathlon poster. Kris shrugged.

“It _is_ a couple blocks across the hudson.”


	7. Trip To D.C.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After finding out that the villains' lair was in New Jersey, Kris rejoined the Decathlon team on the trip to Washington D.C. Kris, with the help of Claude, basically neutered the A.I. in his suit and he tracks down the lair.

Midtown High students were waiting by a yellow bus, dressed in their yellow uniform blazers. Kris jogged toward them. “Oh, it’s Kris.” Gwen pointed out.

“Guys,” He said. 

“Kris?”

“Hey, buddy.”

“Yeah, I was hoping I could… maybe I could rejoin the team!” Kris glanced back and forth towards each of the Decathlon team. Brad, standing in the back, walked forward to face Kris.

“No, no way. You can’t just quit on us, stroll up, and be welcomed back by everyone.”

Mr. Harrington walked out of the bus, about to debrief the students but got a delightful surprise when he found Kris was back. 

“Hey, welcome back, Kristian.” Kris paused. He expected Mr. Harrington to not allow him to go back at the last minute. But then again, this was also the same teacher that talked to the class about his wife. Even if it weirded the whole class out. “Brad, you’re back to first alternate.”

“What?”

“He's taking your place,” Gwen answered for Mr. Harrington.

“Alright. Well, let’s get on the bus,” Mr. Harrington said. Brad shrugged off his jacket and sullenly thrusted it into Kris’ arms.

~~~

The bus was traveling through the highway. 90 miles to Baltimore, 126 miles to Washington. “Focus up, everyone. Our next topic is the moons of Saturn,” Tyler explained.

The students were holding bells, focusing on Tyler’s quiz. They rang their bells before answering. “The second law of thermodynamics,” Lysithea quickly and confidently answered.

“Frank Sinatra!”

“Fort Sumter,” Brad answered.

Claude jokingly pressed the bell before saying, “Brad is wrong.” He continued to grin with satisfaction when he saw Brad flipping him off. Kris and Claude high fived.

“Okay, guys, let's focus. Next one.”

“Don’t overwork them, Tyler!” Mr. Harrington said.

“Uh, strontium, barium, vibranium.” Kris answered.

“Very good, Kris.” Tyler continued to shuffle the cards. “Glad to have you back.”

“Glad to be back.” Kris’ phone proceeded to ring. He whipped it out to see it was Happy calling him. It was the picture of Happy sleeping and Peter selfie-ing that caught him off guard, making him chuckle a little bit before he got up. 

“What is the current standard unit of radioactive—”

“Can I take this real quick? I'll only be a sec.”

“Yeah, fine.”

Kris answered his call, moving to the back seats. As he passed by, Lysithea stared at him curiously, looking up from the textbook she had on her lap. “Hello?”

“Got a blip on my screen here. You left New York?”

Kris held the phone away from his mouth and covered the mic. “Tracker.” He put it back. “Uh, yeah. No, it’s just a school trip. It’s, uh, it’s nothing.” Kris sat in the back of the bus, next row to Claude. “Look, Happy, I gotta say, you tracking me without my permission is a complete violation of my privacy.”

Claude pointed at the hologram model, looking to Kris to check for something. “That’s different,” Kris whispered.

“What’s different?”

“Nothing. Look, it’s just the Academic Decathlon. It’s no big deal.”

“Hey, hey. I’ll decide if it’s no big deal.”

Kris looks annoyed. He mouths a ‘what?’

“Sounds like it’s no big deal, but remember, I’m watching you.”

The call ended and Kris sighed, holding the phone to his chest and leaning against the window, his head whole body vibrating from the bus. It was probably because he thought Happy thought he was the type of person to take the suit out just for fun.

~~~

The door to Kris and Claude’s hotel room closes. The ‘do not disturb’ sign hung on its handle. The both of them unpack their bags, shaking various belongings like wires, the purple weapon core, toothpaste, and comics out of their backpacks. Kris connected a wire to the suit. Claude was using his laptop, complicated lines of codes flashed through the screen. Kris held a flashlight with his mouth, working on his suit. The A.I., or Suit Lady, is warning them with “Don’t you do it”-s and “Don’t do it, boy.”

Kris removed the tracking device from the suit. “Aha... Gotcha.” He removed the flashlight from his mouth and got up. “Alright, Happy... Enjoy tracking this lamp!” He stuck the device on a lamp, then got back to the suit. Claude was still working on the laptop.

Claude ends up pressing a few keys on his laptop. A blue flash of light briefly pulses through the suit. Suit Lady shuts up, she’s practically neutered. She’s super quiet. “W-what did you do?” Kris asked.

“I shut off the Wi-Fi.” Claude looked at him, dead in the eye with a completely serious face. A few beats passed, and he started wheezing, followed by howling laughter. It took a few moments before Claude finally finished, then he explained. “No, I just disabled the training wheels.”

Kris practically got a surge of happiness flowing through every artery. He felt like he could breathe. It’s like the weight is finally lifted from his shoulders.

~~~

Kris, wearing the suit without the mask, zipped up his black hoodie to hide it and put on his hood. He peeked out the door and looked around. The corridors were quiet and empty. “Yeah, the glowy thing, it's evidence. Keep it safe.”

Claude picked up the glowing core and dropped it onto his bag. He picked up a 3DS from his bag and started to play Pokémon on it, with one leg on top of the other.

Kris activated the tracker on his web-shooter, glanced at it, and covered it. “Alright. See you soon. It’s already one.”

“Be careful!” Claude calls out from behind.

As Kris tried to walk down the hall unnoticed, Tyler jogged in swimming trunks. He halted and turned to Kris. “Whoah okay. Okay. Okay.” Kris quickly said, shielding his eyes. He could mentally hear “Awkward” drawling with a high pitched voice.

A few students quickly and quietly sneak by, all in swimwear, with Kris slowly turning to a wall. _Great timing, Kris _. he thought to himself. Brad came in and slapped his behind.__

__“What the muffin, man?” he squealed in a high tone, offended. But Brad was too far to be able to hear what he said. He turned to Tyler, still shielding his eyes. “I was, uh... I was gonna go study, um, in the business center.”_ _

__“Kris, you don’t need to study. You're practically the smartest junior I've ever met,” He said._ _

__“Huh. Well, thanks.” Kris paused. That was a first. He’s only ever been able to be ‘smart’ only because of the hours spent on studying Physics and Calculus equations for web-swinging, and also to the lessons Tony would give him every now and then._ _

__“And besides... Um, a rebellious group activity the day before a competition is good for morale.”_ _

__“Hm?”_ _

__“Um, well, I read that in a TED Talk, so, I-I heard it in a TED Talk. And I read a coaching book.”_ _

__“Wow, you really... This is really important to you.”_ _

__“Yeah. It’s our future. I’m not gonna screw it up. Besides, we raided the minibar and these candy bars were, around, eleven dollars. So get your trunks on and come on.” Tyler threw a candy bar at Kris in a smooth arc._ _

__Kris smiled, only because he rarely gets to talk to his seniors. Mostly because he’s awkward, especially with people slightly older than him, and/or barely knew. Only thing is that he wished they did so in different wear. He unwrapped the candy bar and chomped on it with a loud crunch._ _

__~~~_ _

__Wearing his suit without the mask, Kris watched everyone through a window on the roof. Tyler playfully chatted with his teammates. He sighed. Stepping back from the window, he tightened the straps on his backpack. Kris put on the mask. A brief glow expanded from the spider emblem on his chest._ _

__“ _Good evening, Kristian._ ”_ _

__Kris groaned. The Suit Lady hadn’t disappeared, she’s still there. Just a lot more quiet than before. In fact, he’d even compare the Suit Lady to Navi. “Uh, hi…”_ _

__“ _Congratulations on completing the rigorous Training Wheels Protocol and gaining access to your suit’s full capabilities._ ”_ _

__The irritation disappeared completely. Interest replaced it, and he placed his hands on his hips. “Oho, so... I can... do more stuff, now?”_ _

__“ _Indeed. So where would you like to take me tonight?_ ”_ _

__“S, I, I, put a tracker on someone. He’s a bad guy,” Kris stuttered._ _

__“ _Tracker located. Plotting course to intercept target._ ”_ _

__“Okay, well, as long as I make it back in time for Decathlon, it’s fine!” Kris swung from a web and landed on a truck. As the truck ran past, a banner that said “United States Academic Decathlon” displayed._ _

__~~~_ _

__Kris rode on a different truck, raging down the road. He’s in his spider suit, crouching on top of the truck, with the dark night sky in the background._ _

__“ _One hundred meters from destination and closing._ ”_ _

__Kris could see Vulture, already in the middle of a heist. He grinned. “Right on time…”_ _

__He leapt from the truck to the one Vulture was already on. Vulture seemed to be taking something that produced the purple stuff on top of the truck, but Kris webbed the goods he already took. “Hey, big bird! This doesn't belong to you!”_ _

__Vulture was pretty much pissed at this point. His mindset was “Why is this bastard in red tights messing with my plans again?” He starts slashing at Kris, and it’s starting to scare him. This was the first time he’s ever gotten someone actually _wanting_ to kill him._ _

__That fear got to him, as Vulture swatted him into the matter-phase-shifter back into the truck. The portal cube was thrown off position by Kris’ movement. He immediately jumped up from to get out but slammed his head on the now solid roof. He lost consciousness_ _


	8. No Vault Of His Own / Monumental Meltdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After recovering from his previous fight with the Vulture, Kris found himself stuck in a vault. After finding out that the glowing energy core was actually an explosive, he has to save his friends, or else the energy core will explode a building.

Time seemed to have passed and Kris lied motionless on the floor of the trailer. The truck shook to a stop, waking him up. “Oh, my head…”

“ _You appear to have a mild concussion._ ”

With a headache, Kris stood up with a hand to his head. The way he got up was similar to that of a drunk man getting up. He looked around at the gear that was caged. “Hey… So where am I, right now?”

_“I’m not sure. The container walls are hindering my sensors._ ”

“Wait a minute. They must have hijacked the truck and taken me to their evil lair. Okay, suit lady. We’re gonna have to fight our way out of this one.” Kris prepared himself to burst through the truck's metal doors. He hopped on the spot a bit and clenched his fists.

“Three… two… one!” Kris smashed through the trailer doors and found himself in a huge warehouse full of containers. He looked around, on guard. “What is this place? Suit lady, where am I?”

“ _You're in the most secure facility on the Eastern Seaboard: The Damage Control Deep Storage Vault._ ”

“No. _Seriously?_ ” Shocked, Kris put both hands to his head. On the wall before him, ‘DODC-V05’ is written in big black letters. He groaned. “That’s so far from Jersey! How’d that even happen?!”

Time has passed. Kris clung to the horizontal crack of the massive doors as he tried to wedge them open.

“The door will most likely remain closed until morning.”

Kris kicked at the bottom of the doors. “ _Morning?_ ” He groaned, utterly defeated. He knew deep down that he had a question, but that headache is making him forget what the question was.

Later. Kris was lying on a hammock made out of his webs, swinging it side to side. “Hey, Suit Lady, I kind of feel bad calling you ‘suit lady,’ you know? I think I should probably give you a name… like Lysithea—no, no, no. Dang, that’s… that’s _weird._ ”

Kris shot a web at one of the containers. With one hand, he slowly swung, and let go, dropping to the floor sluggishly and lying down with his bag. “What about… River?”

“ _You can call me River if you would like._ ”

“Right… Acronym… acronym… uh, Mr. Stark did it with FRIDAY and JARVIS, I should probably do the same…” Kris thought up, still lying down. He took out his hoodie and wore it. He used his left hand and counted down the fingers with each word he thought of. “Really… Impressive… Verifiable… Entertaining… Ugh, another word for R… another word for r… Oh! Wait, no…”

He sighed. This is one of his least favorite words. “...Rad. I guess. But it wouldn’t fit! Maybe I’ll just add an S. S for System, or Suit. I guess I’m happy with it! Just not with the ‘Rad’ part.”

Later. Kris read a book, hanging upside down and spinning around slowly. His web was held between his feet and suspending him from the ceiling. “Hey, RIVERS, what else can this suit do?” Wings expanded from under his arms. Kris gasped in surprise. “ _What?_ ”

~~~

Standing in front of an empty wall, Kris was now wearing his yellow Midtown high school blazer over his hoodie, over his suit. The suit was flashing a laser Kid-Arachnid emblem on the wall. Kris was examining the options for his web. “Hey, maybe I should run that refresher course…”

“ _Ricochet web._ ”

“Ricochet web…” Kris shot a ricochet web on the wall and it immediately bounced back. He ducked to dodge the ball-shaped bundle of web and turned back at it. “Cool.”

Later. The wall is covered with patches of spiderwebs now.

“ _Splitter web._ ”

Kris walks around as he fires two strands of web on accident. “Neato!”

More time has passed. The wall was even messier.

“ _Web grenade._ ”

Kris jumped and threw a small, metal-like ball of web. “Web grenade!” The web grenade exploded, and the web covered the wall even more.

Later. Kris jumped ropes with a strand of web

~~~

Kris was lying face-up on one of the trailers with his left hand on his belly. He was in deep thought. “Should I tell Lysithea that I’m Kid-Arachnid?”

“ _Who is Lysithea?_ ”

“Who is Lysithea? She’s…” Kris begins chuckling a bit, folding his arms. He puffed his cheeks and blew. “She’s the best. She’s awesome. She, uh, she’s just a girl who goes to my school. And, uh… Yeah, I just… I really want to tell her, but it’s kind of weird, you know? ‘Hey, I’m… I’m Kid-Arachnid.’”

“ _What’s weird about that?_ ”

“What if she’s expecting someone like Peter, or, or Dad? I mean, imagine how disappointed she’d be when she sees me.” Kris was too deep in thought to realize that he had just called ‘Tony’ ‘Dad’ on accident. He waved his hand and covered his forehead with his arm.

“ _Well, if I were her, I wouldn’t be disappointed at all._ ”

“Thanks, RIVERS. It’s really nice to have somebody to talk to.” His eye lenses widen a little. He stopped musing and finally woke up. “Hey, how long have we been here anyway?”

“ _37 minutes_ ”

“ _What?!_ 37 minutes, that’s _insane!_ It felt like an hour, I, I gotta get outta here.” Kris flipped off a container and walked into it. Then his question that he really wanted to ask finally popped up in his mind. “OH! And, uh, RIVERS! What’s the glowing energy core the bad guys have made of?”

“ _That ‘glowy thing’ is made of Sizemonium._ ”

Kris immediately grabbed his bag and started rummaging through his bag. He remembered the news broadcast from a few weeks ago. Charged Sizemonium blows up if exposed to radiation. And if the Decathlon won, that meant they’re going to the Washington Monument, and Claude’s bag will pass through the X-ray. And if they lost, they have the second place prize of going to the Empire State building. He found his phone and tried to call Claude but couldn't get any reception. He repeatedly tapped his phone in a panic. “No, no, no, no, no!”

Kris used webs to swing to the warehouse doors. Clinging onto the doors, he started banging and shouting, hoping someone would hear him. “Hey! Please! Please, somebody, let me out! Hey!” Kris turned to the time lock. “RIVERS, you have to help me override that time lock.”

Kris hung upside down from the ceiling next to the time lock close to the doors. He opened the lock panel and was putting in numbers. In his hands were a notepad and a pen. “Okay, RIVERS. Lower the voltage and run it.”

“ _Trial unsuccessful._ ”

“Okay, we’re just gonna have to try every sequence.”

~~~

“Where's Kris? Where's Kris?”

“There's no time—just go!”

Brad continued making jokes, unfunny ones, and he went in Kris’ place and they made it to the final round. So, remember how Kris usually goes to the Decathlon and always answers at least one question? Well, the final one was the same exact question.

“Dangit, Kris would know this—we don't know it.” Everyone all collectively thought. Brad answered, and he answered wrong, and so they lost. They got second place. Everyone’s pissed, everyone’s upset. If Kris had been there, they would have won.

~~~

Kris was still trying to override the lock. He yawned, then pressed some buttons.

“Initiating trial 247.”

The massive warehouse doors groaned as they opened. “It worked! It works!” Kris swung out on his webs through the opening doors. He crawled on the ceiling outside, then dropped on the trailer of a departing truck. He lied down as the truck passed an armed guard.

~~~

Kris finally managed to call Claude. “Where’s the power core, where's the power core?!” Kris repeatedly shouted into the mic.

“Calm down, it's in my backpack. Anyway, we moved to NYC. Empire State Building. Your bags are with me. Anyway, gotta go!”

Claude hung up because he had to go through security. The backpack passed through the x-ray, and the energy core started glowing. Kris groaned. 

Kris rushed and made it to the Hudson River. He looked to his left, the bridge was _really_ far away. He looked to his right, and the other bridge was _super_ far away. He doesn’t have the time for this. He looked around for something— _anything_ to help him. He then had an idea. He shot two webs to make a V formation and slingshots himself. The sudden speed surprised even himself as he rocketed across the river, going really high, but he’s slowly falling down. He’s only a third of the way there. This was how he was going to die. Trying to save his friends from a bomb.

_Fwoomph!_ The web-wings opened and he started to glide the rest of the way there. He’s really unsteady in the air, but he just barely landed on the dock. His foot was slanted when he reached the edge of the dock, but his sticky feet kept him from falling. He kept on running.

“I made it! That’s so cool!” He shouted. He continued to swing as fast as he could, like his life depended on it. He landed on a building next to the Empire State Building. He looked up. “Oh, muffin. That's a big building.” He continued looking up, wondering what to do.

_BOOM!_ Kris looked up. The core went off and you could see the brickwork cracking. He web-zipped up there and has a full-on sprint on the wall. “RIVERS, WHAT'S GOING ON UP THERE?!” he screamed. RIVERS pulled up a security camera feed of the elevator. Everyone was freaking out, trying to get out. And the commotion was just making things worse. It’s making the deterioration escalate.

Kris was distracted by the video. He felt his skull buzzing and heard whispering voices, he looked up and saw a huge chunk of the building fall right at his face. He barely dodged it and kicked it towards the building and webbed so it would stay there. Better than that hitting the civilians down on the streets. He continued running and jumped through the huge hole in the wall. He slid in, and shot a strand of web onto the falling elevator, then braced his feet against the doors to the shaft. Just in the nick of time.

“Oh my god! I did it!” The doors broke loose and Kris fell after the plummeting elevator. It caught on a beam and Kris fell in through the ceiling on his back. The impact broke off a wheel and the car started to drop again. He shot a web through the hole in the ceiling, stopping the elevator’s descent. Hanging upside down with his feet braced against the ceiling of the elevator, Kris grabbed onto the strand of web and tried to make his voice sound different as he helps his friends calm down. “Hey, how you doing? Don’t worry about it. I got you.”

“Yes! Yes!” Claude swung his fist in joy and relief, making the whole elevator wobble.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey, dude, quit moving around.”

“Sorry, sir, so sorry.”

With his web attached to the ceiling high above, Kris slowly pulled the elevator up the shaft. They reached the upper floor. “Alright. This is your stop.” The metal elevator ceiling started to bend under Kris’ feet. “Go, go, go. Everybody out! Move it, people. Move it, move it!”

Lysithea reached out, but before she could hold Mr. Harrington's outstretched hand, the ceiling snaps. Kris shot a strand of web at her as the elevator fell. She dangled by her wrist. "You’re okay. You’re okay." Kris pulled her up by the web, then took her hand. His web started to snap as he helped her to safety. “So, uh, is everyone okay?”

Lysithea nodded.

“ _This is your chance, Kris. Kiss her._ ”

Kris and Lysithea held a look. The web snapped and he drops. The students, the teacher, and the park rangers look down the elevator shaft going after Kris as he fell. 

“Thank you!”


	9. The Baby Monitor Protocol / Shipload Of Trouble Pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Kris accidentally landed himself a ticket to detention thanks to his ambition, he escapes it and reviews footage from last week.

At school, the student news plays on a TV in the hall.

“ _This past weekend, Midtown’s Academic Decathlon team lost the country's best at the national championship. Later that day, however, they defeated death._ ”

“ _Explosions! Ashley screams, Brad screams, Everybody screamin’!_ ”

“ _There were purple lasers and smoke everywhere, It was…_ ” A cat emoji appeared over Claude’s mouth and a beep is inserted as he swore. He calmed down and leaned against the wall with his arm. “ _…it was like a Bon Jovi concert._ ”

After Claude, it cut to Mr. Harrington. He had his arms folded and was awkwardly staring into the camera. “ _As you know, we made it out alive, and that's the important thing. I couldn't bear to lose a student on a school trip. Not again._ ” The camera amateurishly zooms in on Mr. Harrington’s face.

“ _Thankfully, no one was seriously injured, thanks to the Kid-Arachnid._ ” An image with Kris in his Kid-Arachnid popped up. The problem was that he was basically a small dot in the image, and the words were white. And because the image was taken in daytime, and the Empire State building was pretty light, so you could barely see the white ‘Thank you Kid-Arachnid!!!’ and himself. In fact, you could only see a small speck on the image. 

“ _Thank you, Kid-Arachnid._ ”

“ _Up next: The Kid-Arachnid mania—or should I say Kid-Arachnimania—is sweeping the school. How can you show your spider spirit?_ ”

Kris grinned as he walked past the TV showing the student news, battling his way through the crowded hallways, full of bustling students or clusters of students watching the TV. A few students were standing around the TV to watch the news. As Kris cheerfully entered another hall, Claude joined him. “Dude, dude, dude, dude. What is it like being famous when nobody knows it's you?”

”Crazy, dude,” Kris responded, rubbing his arms as if he was gesturing the fact he had goosebumps. 

“Okay, man, come on, we'll be late to class.” Claude grabbed his wrist and they were about to head to class, but Kris stopped him. Claude also stopped, turning to Kris.

“I’m not going to class,” Kris said.

Claude sighed, gripping Kris’ shoulder. “You’re already in so much trouble for ditching the Decathlon.”

“Dude, listen, I figured it out, right? The wing suit guy is stealing from Damage Control. And what he takes from Damage Control, that's how he builds the weapons. So all I gotta do is catch him.” Kris turned to the door of the school, but Claude stopped him. 

“But we have a Spanish quiz.” Claude started dragging him to the class, but Kris, with his sticky feet that somehow can go through his shoes, stopped him. Claude groaned again.

“Claude, I’m probably never gonna come back here. Mr. Stark is moving the Avengers upstate, so when I bring this guy in—”

“Dude, you want to be a high school _dropout?_ ” Claude interjected.

Kris took a few steps to the door, turning around to face the door.“I am _so_ far beyond high school right now.” Kris turned a right and Principal Danson was there.

“Echarri. My office.” Principal Danson walked to his office, and Kris awkwardly stood there. 

~~~

At detention. A video played, featuring Captain America. He pulled up a chair and sat. “ _So… You got detention. You screwed up._ ”

Kris sighed and bit his lip in frustration. He’s ready for _more_ than this. The Avengers-level stuff. Maybe even take on the entire army Loki sent to earth. Instead, he’s reduced to neighborhood, street-level stuff. The boring ones.

“ _You know what you did was wrong. The question is, how are you gonna make things right? Maybe you were trying to be cool. But take it from a guy who's been frozen for 65 years, the only way to really be cool is to follow the rules._ ”

The class was sparsely filled with students. Only Kris and two other students. He sighed again and stood up forcefully, the chair screeching. “ _We all know what's right. We all know what's wrong. Next time those turkeys try to convince you of something you know is wrong…_ ”

Kris bent over and took his bag, slinging it over his shoulder and marched out the door. Coach Wilson was slouching at a desk. “Hey, where you going? Get back here.”

“ _Just think to yourself, what would Captain America do? So your body's changing. Believe me, I know how that feels._ ”

In the empty hallway, Kris lifted a row of lockers off the ground, revealing a hidden space beneath. He grabbed a bottle of web fluid and lowered the lockers. He threw the bottle up in the air, and caught it again.

~~~

Kris slipped into his room through the window. Luckily his cousins were still in the same school as him, so he knew they were still outside. He opened his closet and wore his normal clothes over his suit and lounged on his chair with a pen in hand. “Hey, RIVERS. What’s up?”

“ _Hey, Kristian. How was your Spanish quiz?_ ”

“Listen, I was wondering if you could help me. I’m trying to figure out who the guys under the bridge were that night, but I mean, I can only kind of remember part of a license plate.” Kris swivelled his chair and looked at his wall, leaning back on his chair. 

“ _I can run facial recognition on the footage of that encounter._ ”

Kris sat upright on his chair. “Footage?”

“ _Yes, Kristian. I record everything you see._ ”

“Everything?” He asked.

“Everything.”

Oh no. That meant that all the embarrassing stuff he did while wearing the suit must have been recorded and sent to Tony. He buried his face into his arms. Kris paused. It could be a possibility. He sat upright again. “Like, all the time?”

“ _It’s called the Baby Monitor Protocol._ ”

Kris threw away his pen in irritation. He rested his forehead on his palm and sighed deeply. “Alright, uh, just roll it back to last Friday.”

“ _With pleasure._ ”

“Hey, everyone. Yeah, cool party. Hey, what’s up, Lysithea? Kris’ told me a lot about you.” The Kris in the footage winked. Kris shook his head quickly. “No, no, no. No, no, no. This is just me messing around. Go later in the day, later in the day.”

“ _It is I, Thor, son of Odin!_ ” The Kris in the footage held his tiny hammer and tapped it on his arms, bul

“No, no, no, no, no, no. That’s definitely… no. That's definitely not what we wanted to watch. Just…”

“ _Your impressions are very funny._ ”

“Aw, thanks. But, uh, Fast-forward to the arms deal.” Kris stands up. The footage shows three men from the arms deal that he was searching for. “Okay. The two on the right, who are they?”

“ _Searching law enforcement databases. No records found for two of the individuals. One individual identified. Aaron Baxter, age 33. He has a criminal record and an address in Queens._ ”

“Let’s pay him a visit.”

“ _Would you like me to activate the Enhanced Interrogation Protocol?_ ”

“Uh, yeah!”

~~~

In a parking building, the scruffy man from the weapons deal, Aaron Baxter, carried groceries to his car. The spider drone followed him. As Aaron opened the trunk, Kris arrived in his Kid-Arachnid suit. He stuck Aaron’s hand to the trunk with a web. Annoyed, Aaron stares at the spider drone.

“Remember me?” Kris spoke in a deep metallic voice. He approached Aaron’s car, and Aaron seems taken aback. “I need information. You’re gonna give it to me now.”

“All right, chill.”

“Come on!”

“What happened to your voice?”

“What do you mean, what happened to my voice?”

“I heard you by the bridge. I know what a girl sound like.”

Kris internally cursed his nervousness that night. “I’m not a girl! I’m a boy. I mean, I’m a… I’m a man.”

“I don’t care what you are, a boy, a girl…”

“I’m not a _girl!_ I’m a man. Come on, man. Look, who is selling these weapons? I need to know. Give me names or else.” Aaron slammed the trunk shut, and startled Kris. He stepped back and looked around in surprise. The spider drone chirped and flew around Kris; head.

“You ain’t ever done this before, huh?”

“Deactivate interrogation mode.”

The spider drone went back in the emblem on the suit’s chest. Aaron laughed. Kris' voice changes back to its somewhat high-pitched tone. “Look, man, these guys are selling weapons that are _crazy_ dangerous. They can't just be out on the streets. Look, if _one_ of them can just cut Mr. Conagher’s bodega in half…”

Aaron was looking at his fingers, sniffing, not amused. However, when Kris mentioned Conagher's, he gained interest. “You know Conagher's?”

“Yeah, best sandwiches in Midtown.”

“Sub Haven’s pretty good.”

“It’s too much bread.”

“I like bread.”

“Come on, man, please.” Kris started to walk away. “ _Stupid_ interrogation mode. RIVERS, don’t ever do that again.” He angrily muttered.

“The other night, you told that dude, “if you shoot somebody, shoot me.” It’s pretty ballsy. I don’t want those weapons in this neighborhood. I got a nephew who lives here.”

Kris stopped when Aaron started speaking and walked back to him. “Who are these guys? What can you tell me about Vulture?”

“Other than he’s a psychopath dressed as a demon, nothing. I don’t know who he is or where he is.” Kris leaned his head on Aaron’s car and gave out a sigh. “I _do_ know where he's gonna be.”

“ _Really?_ ”

“Yeah, this crazy dude I used to work with, he’s supposed to be doing a deal with him.”

Kris started to walk happily away, giggling. “Yes! Yes! Thank—”

“Hey. Hey. Hey. I didn’t tell you where. You don’t have a location.”

“Right, of course. Yeah, my bad. Silly. Just…” Embarrassed, Kris came closer and leaned on the car. “Yeah. Where is it?”

“Can I give you some advice? You got to get better at this part of the job.”

“I don’t understand. I’m intimidating.” Kris demonstrates his ‘intimidating’ pose, crossing his arms.

“Staten Island ferry, eleven.”

“Oh, that’s soon. Hey, that’s gonna dissolve in two hours.”

“No, no, no, no. Come fix this.”

“Two hours. You deserve that.” Kris walks away, stabbing a finger in his direction.

“I got ice cream in here.”

“You deserve that. You're a criminal. Bye, Mr. Criminal.”


	10. A Shipload Of Trouble Pt. 2 / Stark Raving Mad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After his first successful interrogation, Kris followed the directions to the ferry, where chaos and bad decisions ensued.

At the Staten Island Ferry terminal, Kris swung onto a building roof. As the massive orange ferry pulled out of the dock, he took a running leap and spread his glider wings. He landed and hung on the hull. “Nice.” He peeked through a window and saw passengers sitting inside. “Okay, RIVERS, activate Enhanced Reconnaissance Mode.”

“ _Sure thing._ ” 

“ _He’s upfront. Main deck,_ ” A grey-haired man said. He seemed to be talking to the guy behind him. Pure deduction and movie knowledge told Kris that they must be the arms dealers.

“ _… I hate this guy,_ ” Schultz whispered.

“It’s the guy from the bridge, right? Schultz?” Kris directed his attention to the grey-haired man. Now that he mentioned it, he kind of looked like the Vulture. He’d know because he’s been following the Spider-Man news ever since Peter debuted. “Who’s that other guy? Is that Adrian Toomes?”

“ _Yes._ ” RIVERS Responded.

“How did _anyone_ not notice him? It’s like he used some sort of disguise mechanism.” Kris wondered. It must have been because he had alien tech for a while. It’s odd—how come he managed to bust out of prison without _anyone_ knowing? Not even the public knew?

“ _Just keep me posted._ ”

“ _Incoming call from: Isabelle. Should I reroute to your heads-up display?_ ”

“I can’t talk right now. I’ll call her back. If any of them call me, just send them to voicemail or something.” He watched Toomes intently. The spider drone climbed onto his head and floated. “Hey, dronie, keep an eye on that guy. We can’t let anybody get away this time.” The drone hovered by the window. 

Kris climbed up to the ferry roof. He crawled to the edge and peered down at four men on the front deck. That was definitely suspicious. He’s pretty sure most people aren’t allowed to mingle around that area. “Who’s the guy on the left?”

“Mac Gargan. Extensive criminal record, including homicide and super-villainy.”

Kris sighed and placed a hand on his forehead. “I swear, the cops don’t even let out the knowledge that these two broke out to the public, so we’d know what we’re dealing with?”

“ _…White pickup truck._ ”

“Dronie, scan the ship for a white pickup truck.” The tiny drone flew far enough to view the entire ship and scanned the cargo under the deck. It spotted a pickup truck. It hovered over the truck and scanned its contents. Toomes’ coworker got out of the car and led the slim man to the back. “Oh, this is too perfect. I got the weapons, buyers, _and_ sellers all in one place.” 

“Incoming call from Tony Stark.” 

Kris heart dropped. He shook his head rapidly. “No, no, no. No, no, don't answer.”

“ _Mr. Echarri. Got a sec?_ ”

“Uh, I’m actually at school.” Kris tried his best to position himself so that it wouldn’t be obvious that he’s on a ferry. It wouldn’t help if he found out that he snuck out of detention _and_ school as a whole. He had to, in case he was in a video call.

“ _No, you’re not,_ ” RIVERS said.

“ _Nice work in D.C. My dad never really gave me a lot of support… and I’m just trying to break the cycle of shame._ ”

“Uh, I’m kind of in the middle of something right now.” 

“ _Don’t cut me off when I'm complimenting you. Anyway, great things are about to hap—_ ” The ferry horn blared. Kris was screaming internally, while also trying to make his face not look nervous at all. “ _What is that?_ ”

“Tuba senior! Uh, yeah! My fellow Tubaist! He’s tuning his instrument!” Kris quickly responded, as he looked at the pipes of the boat, as if commanding it to not blare with nothing but his mind. The previous plan about him trying to not look tense was thrown out the window—he looked completely nervous.

“That’s… odd. Happy told me you quit the band six weeks ago, and how you complained about preferring Middle School’s Band over High School’s? What’s up?” Kris was close to screaming out loud, but he managed to keep his cool, despite his constantly-rising nervousness.

“I gotta go. Uh, end call.”

“ _Hey._ ” The Tony in Kris’ interface disappears.

“I'll take those!” Kris webbed the keys from Schultz’s hands. “Yoink!”

He leapt onto the deck. “Hey, guys. The illegal-weapons-deal-ferry was at 10:30. You missed it.” He disarmed two guys with the spiderweb, kicked Gargan, and slammed him. Kris ducked from Schultz’s Shocker gauntlet, which got caught in a gate. Two thugs got up behind Kris. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Not so fast.” Kris threw them both against the railing.

“Are you guys okay? My bad. That was a little hard.” He eyed Schultz, who was still struggling to free himself. “I gotta say the other guy was way better with that thing.” He then reloads his web-shooter, the drone flying back into his chest. “I’m honestly—I’m, I’m shocked.”

Kris shot a Trip Mine behind him, attaching a thug to the wall with it. In the cargo hold, Toomes bashed the slim man’s head against the truck. He then faced Kris, who is standing yards away on deck. Kris eyed Toomes and started to run, when agents came out of nowhere and aimed at Kris. “Freeze! FBI! Don't move! Get on the ground! FBI!”

“Wait, what do you mean, _FBI?_ ”

“The FBI is the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

“I know what the FBI means—but what are they doing here?” A mechanical wing bursted out of the truck, making the agents turn to it. Toomes pushed himself out to the middle of the hall, sparks flying everywhere and surfaces scratched. Toomes then flew toward the deck. Agents shoot at him, but Kris kept trying to get them out of the way, webbing them all out of the way. “Get out of the way! Get out of the way!”

Vulture fired a high tech weapon, dragging a car and throwing it to the agents. “Look out, look out, look out! Move, move, MOVE!” Vulture hits Gargan, who was still struggling to get out of the deck’s edge, causing him to fall into the water. He then fired energy blasts at the ferry.

“Get to the top deck. We’re getting out of here.” Vulture said to Schultz. Schultz made a run for it.

Kris shot his web at Schultz but missed. He shot another web at Vulture's leg and pulled. Vulture hid behind his large metal wings that protected him from the gunfire then shot at the agents. One blast hit an indoor seating area. Kris weighed Vulture with a car attached to his web. Dodging a blast, he leapt to the upper deck and shot some more webs. Hanging from Vulture’s suit, Kris swung over the water. The birdman (Get it? Because of Micheal Keaton?) fired at Kris. He swung back onto the deck. Vulture cut the strand of web with the blades of his wings as Kris shot a web at the barrel of his high tech weapon. Vulture flew off a bit, knocking Kris into a pole. It stung. Painfully.

“Activate Taser Web!” Kris shouted. Electricity travelled up the strand of web and the weapon was yanked away from Vulture. On the deck, it bounced around wildly, shooting around aimlessly. Kris trapped the weapon using lots of spiderwebs. While it was still contained, it still bounced around, emitting a purplish-blue glow from within.

“You’re messing with things you don’t understand!” Vulture flew out of Kris’ view, and he turned to the weapon.

The weapon’s laser beam broke up into multiple rays, the purplish-blue glowing brighter. The energy blast cut through the upper seating area, narrowly missing frightened passengers. In the air, Vulture dodged the blasts as they shoot into the sky. Schultz sprinted toward an upper deck and leapt into the air, landing on Vulture’s back. The rays slice through the length of the ferry, then vanished. In the seating area, passengers move cautiously. In the cargo bay, jets of water start to split up the ferry.

“Oh, my goodness. What do I do? RIVERS, uh, give me an X-ray of the boat and target all the strongest points.” Kris’ display highlighted spots on the structure.

“Web grenade! Web grenade!” Shooting webs, he leapt between the two sides of the ship. “Splitter web, go!”

Kris tumbled back and forth on the upper part of the ferry, connecting the ship with strands of web. He dodged flames as he travelled down the length of the ferry. Kris fired several strands of web and once, and binding them together with another strand. Reaching the bow, he crouched on the edge of the roof. He eyed the two leaning halves of the ferry that were criss-crossed with spider-webs, breathing heavily.

“ _Great job, Kristian. You are ninety-eight percent successful._ ”

Kris’ heart dropped. “ _Ninety-eight?_ ” He eyed the red highlight on his interface.

“Yeah, Kid-Arachnid!”

The web strands began to snap, and Kris lost his balance slightly. “No, no, no, no!”

Water flooded the cargo hold, pushing the cars forward. People clung to posts as the stream rushed past them. On the upper level, passengers slid down the floor of the leaning ferry. The gap widened as the web strands continued to snap. Kris leapt into the air. “ _NO!_ ”

He grabbed a thread and shot another. Arms outstretched, Kris hung between the two sides, trying to hold them together, screaming from the pain. It was almost unbearable, like he himself was being pulled away and was about to be ripped in two. 

Suddenly, the two sides start to move toward each other. Or at least, that's what it felt like for Kris. 

“What the frick?” He could feel the ship moving towards each other, and the straightness of the webs started to curve into an upside-down arch. Kris landed gently in the seating area and looked around, wondering about the strange phenomenon. “What the frick…?”

He turned around to a window, and Iron Man rose into view. “Hi, _Kid-Arachnid. Band practice,_ was it?” 

Hovering outside, he held up one half of the boat. Drones arrived and attached themselves to the other half. Thrusters propelled the two halves of the ferry forward and joined them together. Iron Man looked at Kris through the window again, then flew off.

“Yeah, Iron Man!”

Kris ran out the door and swung into the cargo hold, where Iron Man was welding the ferry back together. “Uh, Mr. Stark? Hey, Mr. Stark. Could I do anything? What do you want me to do?”

“I think you’ve done enough.”

Iron Man flew away. Kris climbed to the top platform of a mast and looked around. Smoke was pouring out from the massive vessel. Rescue boats and helicopters approached from all directions.

Just by the tone alone, Kris could tell he messed up. He messed up _big time._

~~~

Helicopters were still flying around the ferry. Kris was perched on the edge of a building, sans mask, when Iron Man flew over to him. Kris turned to him. “Previously on Kristian Screws the Pooch: I tell you to stay away from this. Instead, you hacked a multimillion-dollar suit so you could sneak around behind my back doing the _one_ thing I told you not to _do._ ”

“Is everyone okay?”

“No thanks to _you._ ”

“No thanks to _me?_ ” Angered, Kris jumped off the edge and approached Tony. “Those _weapons_ were out there, and I _tried_ to tell you about it. But you didn’t _listen. None_ of this would've _happened_ if you had just _listened_ to me!”

Kris scoffed. “If you even _cared_ , you’d actually _be_ here.” The Iron Man suit opened, revealing Tony inside. He stepped down from the suit and marched toward Kris, who backed off in shock. He wasn’t expecting Tony to be here.

“I _did_ listen, kid. Who do you think called the FBI, huh? Do you know that I was the _only_ one who believed in you? Everyone else said I was _crazy_ to recruit a _fourteen_ -year-old kid.” 

“I’m fifteen.”

“No, this is where you _zip_ it, all right? The adult is talking. What if somebody had died tonight? Different story, right? ‘Cause that’s on _you._ ” Tony pointed at Kris, emphasizing his point. “And if you died, I feel like that’s on _me._ I don't need that on my conscience.”

Kris looked down. “Yes, sir, I—I, I’m sorry.”

Tony raised both hands. “Sorry doesn’t cut it.”

“I understand, I just wanted to be like you guys.” Kris looked up at Tony, trying his best to maintain eye contact with his mentor.

“And I wanted you to be better.” Kris looked away. He couldn’t maintain eye contact anymore. 

“I understand, I just—I, I _had_ to do something. It was _my_ responsibility.” Kris always shouldered the responsibility. Not only did he learn the ‘Great power comes great responsibility’ lesson from Peter and his Grandfather, but he just had to. He was given these powers for a reason. 

“Just because you can do something, it doesn't mean you _should,_ ” Tony responded. He learnt this lesson way back in Afghanistan. Kris looked down. Tony shoved his hands in his pocket. “Okay, it’s not working out. I’m gonna need the suit back.”

Kris looked back up, shocked. “For how long?”

“Forever.”

“No, no, no… Please, please, please…” Kris begged with his head shaking and a shocked expression. If he didn’t have the suit, he wouldn’t be able to be Kid-Arachnid anymore. He would go back to just a kid with spider powers and a sweatsuit.

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s how it works.”

“You don't understand. Please. This is all I have. How am I supposed to help you guys? I can be more responsible next time. Just, _please._ ”

Tony paused, looking into Kris’ eyes intently. “You’re just a kid. You don’t know _anything_ about responsibility.”

Kris looked away, opening his mouth to try and say something. All he could manage was, “I don’t have any clothes.”

“Okay, we’ll sort that out.”

~~~

This was the first time in the past few months that Kris just wanted to stay in his room forever. Many times has he passed by fellow peers, laughing at his clothes. It was an oversized “I survived a trip to NYC” shirt, Hello Kitty pyjamas and sandals. He just wanted to curl up in his room and never shoulder the responsibility as much, again. 

He looked up at his apartment complex and sighed, heading toward the elevator. The people in the elevator that stood beside him were either scrunching their faces in disgust, or were covering their noses. Kris lifted the shirt. It was the smell of seawater. Disgusting seawater, to be exact.

Kris walked outside the apartment door and paused. He knocked, and Nicolette opened the door. She took a deep breath. He immediately understood that he’s in for an earful. A very long one. He stepped into the kitchen as Marlene started ranting about her worries. 

“I’ve been calling you all day. You didn’t answer your phone. You can't do that. Then this ferry thing happens… we called _five_ police stations. _Five_. We called five of your friends, we called Claude’s mother… ” Marilynnexplained, not looking at him.

“I’m fine. Marilynn, I’m okay. Honestly. Just relax. I’m fine.”

The Quints turned around to face him, leaving Kris at the mercy of their piercing gazes. Nicolette pointed at him.

“You. Cut the bullshit.” Nicolette began pacing the room, dialling Kris’ stress levels up to eleven.

“We know you left detention. We know you left the hotel room in Washington. We know you enter this house, later, every night. That’s not fine.” Isabelle said, her forehead rested on her hand as she sat on the armchair.

“Kristian, you have to tell us what’s going on. Just lay it out. It’s just us and you,” Ivy added, running a hand through her hair.

A beat passed, the sting of the dam on the verge of breaking pierced the back of his eyes. He kept blinking to suppress it from flowing down. “I lost the Stark Internship.”

“What?” Nicolette asked. Kris nodded. “What happened?”

“I just thought that I could work really hard and he could… he would… you know, but…” Kris sat down on the couch, leaning his head against the wall. “I messed up.”

“Oh... It’s okay, it’s okay. It’s okay.” Marilynn stepped forth and hugged him, patting his head. He rested his head against her leg.

“Just... I need you to promise us… promise _me_ this.” Kris looked up. “You need to stop carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders.” Marilynn scowled then leaned in to sniff his hair. “And take a shower. You... smell of garbage.”

“I know,” Kris said. “I feel like it,” he quietly added. As he was walking to the bathroom, Isabelle turned on the TV. He directed his attention to it, slightly curious.

“ _Kid-Arachnid: Threat or menace?_ ”

Kris continued watching the TV.

“ _Dear viewers, I, J. Jonah Jameson, have learnt something today. That Kid-Arachnid is a menace! He’s going around, swinging and beating the crap out of robbers! And not only that, oh, no. A few weeks ago, when he “saved” the Mr. Conagher’s bodega, he may have saved the man himself. But! He neglected the other man from behind! He didn’t even bother to check back if there were any more lives to save! This wall-crawling menace is the reason the villains even came in the first place!_ ”

Kris stood still, icy cold dread flowing through the whole of his body. What he thought was his big superhero moment, he failed. All the pressure and all the doubt that was instilled on him by everything in his life continuously built. School, life, his superhero work, his friendships, relationships, etcetera. He slowly turned to the bathroom and continued his route to it, before ultimately deciding:

“ _I’m no hero._ ”


	11. Kris' Midtown Life Pt. 3 / Homecoming Is Fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris, finally caught up with his normal life, asked Lysithea out to Homecoming. She accepted, and they go to Tyler's house, because he invited everyone in the Decathlon to go. Little did he know, a big surprise awaited him.

“Kristian, you’re a good kid and you’re a smart kid. So just try to keep your head straight, okay?”

“Okay.” Kris nodded, looking down. 

“All right. Get out of here.”

Kris picked up his bag, slinging it over his shoulder and exited the principal’s office. Claude was waiting for him in the hallway. He stood up when Kris passed him. “Are you expelled? Do you have to go to that high school on fourty-sixth where the principal has a crossbow?”

Kris looked at him. “Pretty sure that's an urban myth, and no, I’m not expelled.”

“You’re so lucky,” Claude said. They walked down the corridor, passing the homecoming banner that hung over their heads. 

~~~

Kris was resting his head on the desk at detention. He turned to his right to find a notebook with a sketch of him looking sad with a dark cloud over him. There was a note in front of it, and it read:

_IT’S YOU! -ANONYMOUS_

The longer he looked at it, it certainly felt like someone he knew. 

~~~

Spanish class. The clock was ticking, close to the end of the subject before lunch. A hand that held a blue pen shot into the sky. It’s Kris. “Me gusta hacer la tarea”

“Muy bueno, señor Echarri,” The teacher praised. Kris gave a small smile and looked down at his worksheet, writing out his answers for the Spanish quiz he missed yesterday.

~~~

Kris and Claude place the last piece of the LEGO S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier. They finished it in the orchestra practice room. It was empty, except for the two of them. Claude handed Kris the Nick Fury figure, which Kris placed on the deck and nodded. They do their secret handshake.

~~~

The school bell rang. Kris walked out into an empty hallway and saw his seniors chatting. He couldn’t help but notice the pattern that he almost _always_ encounters his seniors, and he’s not liking that pattern one bit. This time, he hid behind the lockers.“Ooh, maybe invite the Decathlon team and then we can get my dad to chaperone us to the school.”

“Yeah, that'd be nice!”

Kris looked around, poking his head out of his hiding spot. He sighed before he continued his route to the bathroom. “Hall pass?”

Kris turned around. It was Lysithea. She was crouched over, reading her book. He was surprised he didn’t go unnoticed, judging by how close her face was to the novel. “But… it’s big. You can literally see it if you can see me.”

“Doesn’t matter, just give,” She responded. Kris handed her the giant hall pass he had. It wasn't really giant, it was just bigger than his hand. She lifted the hall pass closer to her field of vision and tossed it back to him in a neat arch. He continued walking

“ _This is your chance, Kris._ ” He thought. “ _Your chance to ask her out for Homecoming._ ” He stopped in his tracks and turned to Lysithea. “Hey, look, I, uh... I just wanted to apologize for the whole Decathlon thing. I really—”

“It’s fine,” Lysithea interjected.

“No, I, I just mean that... it was not cool. Because… I, uh…” Kris was getting nervous, and he didn’t like it. He didn’t want to have his voice high-pitched mid-conversation. Especially with Lysithea. He quickly wiped the sweat from his palms.

“You what?” 

“Never mind. I got to get to class, but, um, I'd say we should hang out, but I'm gonna be in detention for…” Kris fidgeted around with the hall pass, turning it around and holding it with both hands. Lysithea nodded.“...ever, but, um, I guess you already have a date to homecoming.”

She shook her head. “Actually, I was so busy planning for different stuff, I never really got around to that part, so…”

Kris’ face lit up a bit. He could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks but quickly slapped himself so it could cover up the fact that he’s blushing, and it could just be a red mark. “Uh, do you want to go with me?” 

She finally looked up from her book and smiled at him. “Yeah. Sure.”

“Really? I mean, uh, great. Cool.” Kris massaged his cheeks, trying his best to maintain eye contact, but also to not look creepy while doing so. 

“Cool.”

“I’m actually going that way.” Carrying the hall pass, Kris walked past Lysithea. She turned to watch him go in the background. A huge grin broke across his face as he started to walk with a few springs in his steps.

~~~

In the apartment, Kris slid into the kitchen with a frenzied look. “Nicolette, I need your help.”

Nicolette stared at him with a surprised expression, her back straightened. A small smirk broke across her face and she pushed Kris to his room. “Alright. Go get your dress shirt and tie, polish your loafers, just get ready. I’ll help with the tie.”

The door closed behind him with a soft click as the latch slid into place. He sighed deeply and a small smile made an appearance on his face as he placed his hands on his hips. He opened his closet and picked out a dress shirt and tie, buttoning it up. He picked up his shoes from his cabinet and wore it before placing his foot on his old toy box, using it to polish his shoes. 

Isabelle prepared a pink ribbon corsage for him.

Kris opened the door to the bathroom and sprayed cologne in the air to test it, then grimaced at the scent. He picked out the other cologne and sniffed it. It was actually nice. Too strong for him, thanks to his enhanced senses, but it must be fine to the others. He sprayed it at the nape and his wrists.

Nicolette forced him onto a chair as Abby played a YouTube video on her laptop on how to tie a Windsor knot. The rest were already in their homecoming dresses, just waiting to help Kris and his inexperience at homecoming dances. Kris turned to Nicolette with a surprisingly passable Windsor knot; overlooking his lopsided shirt collar, that is.

“Right?” Nicolette mouthed with a small grin on his face, mostly because of the tie. She fixed the collar issue and straightened out his dress shirt. Kris was now fully dressed in a suit. Abby then taught him how to dance, then straightened his clothes again, because of how crumpled it looked just from a few minutes of dancing. Horribly.

While Abby taught him how to dance, Kris got a notification from his phone and he immediately whipped it out. It was in the Decathlon Team Group Chat, and it was just announcements about the rules of Homecoming.

“ _Oh, and by the way, meet at my place. 7:30. Everyone in the Decathlon’s invited_ ”

“Well, at least that can be less awkward,” Kris commented. Abby shrugged.

~~~

The car comes to a stop in front of Tyler's house. “It’s game day. So, what's the plan?” Isabelle asked.

Kris turned to Isabelle. “Open the door for her, tell her she looks nice, but not too much because that's creepy. And, uh, when I dance with her, I’m putting my hands on her hips. I got this.”

“Love you guys,” Kris whispered.

“See you at the dance.”

Kris got out of the car and sighed heavily to himself. Even if this isn’t Lysithea’s house, and it was just Tyler’s house, something didn’t feel right. Which was weird, because he came here before, but he _still_ couldn’t shake the feeling something’s off. Even his spider-sense was going off, so that made him worry a little. He blew with his cheeks puffed.“I got this.”

Kris walked up to the front door, pink corsage in hand, then rang the doorbell. He waited with a nervous look for the door to open. With Oscar-winning actor, Michael Keaton on the other side. Wait, that doesn’t sound right. Oh, wait, it’s the Vulture! Kris’ smile faded and he froze. He went pale. Toomes grinned at him.

“You must be Kristian.”

Kris nodded warily. He prepared himself to make sure not to look nor sound suspicious. It would only give away his identity. And what worried him was that the public doesn’t know about his identity, nor did his family. The mayor was nice enough to keep his identity as the Vulture a secret, and his jail time was debunked as ‘overseas work’ to his family.

“I’m Tyler’s Dad. Put her there.” They shook hands. Kris’ nervousness has made his grip a lot tighter than usual. Toomes displayed visible fascination on how tight his grip was. “Hell of a _grip_. Come on in here. Come on.”

Toomes dragged Kris inside and closed the door. Kris followed Toomes towards the kitchen. Suddenly: “Hey, guys!”

Kris turned to the living room, where everyone else had already been lounging on the couch. “Oh, hey, guys.” He nervously chuckled. Surprisingly, they weren’t mad at him. Especially about ditching the Decathlon. He hadn’t seen them since the Decathlon, and yet they didn’t hold a grudge. It didn’t feel right, but he let it slide.

“You all right, Kris?”

Toomes’ voice startled Kris. The quietness of the house was too eerie for him to like it. Toomes started to polish knives before cutting vegetables. “Yeah, I’m fine.” 

“Because you look… pale.” He said, swiping the blade near his face. “You want something to drink? Like a bourbon or a scotch, or something like that?” Tyler gave his father ‘the look’, then also turned to Kris, also giving him ‘the look’.

“I’m not old enough to drink. Also, I don't think you should say that in a room full of teenagers. Just saying.” Kris answered, and thank God his voice didn't crack while he was explaining. Though, it was still high-pitched. And thank God he managed to stop his rambling, or else that would just give away his identity. The paranoia was getting to him.

“That’s the right answer.” He stabbed the knife at Kris’ direction. Kris flinched at the sight.

Kris briskly walked over to the couch, where everyone was lounging and plopped down, with his body posture very straight. His back was straightened, he had his elbows on his legs with the corsage in his hands, and he was staring at the ground. This is not good. The very man he had been tracking down the past few weeks was just a few feet away from him.

“Is that a corsage?” Lysithea pointed out. Luckily, the room started to get chattery when Toomes asked Kris if he wanted a drink, so it was basically quiet enough for only Kris to hear.

Kris, still not looking away from the ground, abruptly handed the corsage to her. “Thanks…” She responded.

Toomes tossed the knives into the magnetic knife holder. The sudden clanging startled Kris. He swiftly looked up at a speed that could kill if he was a bit more faster.“Well, hey, I’m your chauffeur, so, uh, let’s get this show on the road.”

“No, no, no, no, we have to take some pictures,” Toomes’ wife said. Everyone got up and huddled closely together in a cluster, smiling. Kris, however, put on a tense grin for the photo, his eyes still glued on Toomes, who was smirking at the group. “Perfect.”

The photoshoot ended and everyone dispersed. Kris looked down. “Sir you don’t have to drive—”

“Nah, nah, it’s not a big deal. I’m going out of town. It’s right on my way,” Toomes insisted.

“Have fun.” Toomes’ wife mouthed.

“See you in a couple of days,” Toomes said to his wife as he grabbed his jacket and keys.

“Bye, guys. Have fun.”

The Decathlon team walked out and onto the sidewalk. Toomes pulled out a limousine from the garage. Kris had anticipated this since he _did_ sell alien weapons. Those weapons must have been that valuable enough to buy a mansion _and_ a limousine. Everyone else, except for Kris and Tyler, of course, admires the car.

Claude turned to Kris, oblivious to why he was nervous.. “Dude, why are you so tense?”

“Because Tyler’s _dad_ is the _Vulture!_ ” Kris whispered through gritted teeth. Claude mouthed an ‘Oh god’.

~~~

Toomes was driving. Lysithea is looking at her phone and scrolling through her messages, wearing the corsage Kris gave her, while Kris stared out the window, almost wanting to vomit from the atmosphere in the car. Claude played with his fingers, wondering what to do with the new discovery that Toomes was the Vulture. Gwen looked at Instagram, and Brad was live streaming. Everything Kris would normally hear was drowned out, like as if he was underwater. 

“What are you gonna do, Kristopher?” Toomes asked.

Kris’ shoulders tense up. He didn’t like how he was acting. Always jumpy whenever Toomes talked. It’s definitely going to be suspicious for him. “What? Also, it’s Kristian.”

“When you graduate, what do you think you're gonna do?” Toomes clarified.

“Don't grill him, Dad,” Tyler spoke.

“Just saying, you know. All you guys who go to that school, you pretty much have your life planned out, right?”

“Yeah, no, I’m just a sophomore. In fact, I’m pretty sure most of us are sophomores.” Kris shook his head quickly, still tense. 

“He has an internship with Tony Stark, so I think he doesn't have to worry,” Ashley commented. Kris twisted his index and middle finger together, hoping that nobody would add to Toomes’ suspicions of him.

“ _Really?_ Stark?” Toomes asked. He relaxed his posture, driving with one hand and the other rested on the other headrest. Tyler nodded. “What do you do?”

“Yeah, I think it's best not to talk about this in front of him,” Gwen quickly said.

“No, no, it’s okay, it’s okay. Uh, I actually quit the internship.” Kris said. He puffed his cheeks in anticipation for the barrage of questions he was going to get. And it didn’t look great. 

“Why?”

“It… uh…” Kris tried to think up an excuse. He looked up at the ceiling and sniffed. “It got… boring.”

“Boring? You get to hang out with Kid-Arachnid,” Tyler said. Kris would have screamed, but it would only give him away further, so he kept his mouth shut. He puffed his cheeks.

“ _Really?_ Kid-Arachnid?” Toomes asked. Tyler nodded again. Kris breathed quickly, but also tried his best to be quiet. His nostrils flared every time he breathed out. “What’s he like?”

A few beats pass. “Yeah, he’s nice… d’ice man.” Kris internally died the second he said ‘d’ice’, other than ‘nice’. He sniffed. “Solid dude.”

Gwen whipped out her phone and showed an image of a pug. “Look, guys! A cute pug!” She said in order to change the subject. The Decathlon leaned forward and the car was filled with “aww”s. Kris did the same, but his face quickly changed the second the phone was pulled away. His skin was paler than earlier in the house. 

Toomes kept glancing at Kris through the rearview mirror. “I’ve seen you around, right? I mean… Somewhere. We’ve, uh, have we ever? Because even the voice…” The atmosphere in the car kept building and building. Every tense brick placed every second. Kris wasn’t liking the attention he was getting from Toomes. 

“We did the Academic Decathlon together, and he was at the party Tyler threw,” Ashley pointed out.

“It was a great party, really great, yeah. Beautiful house, a lot of windows.” Kris complimented the house in an attempt to get on his good side. 

“You were there for, like, two seconds,” Ashley said.

“That was… I was there for longer than two seconds.” Kris shook his head. From the corner of his eye, he could see Toomes’ eyes squint at the sentences. And the other corner of his eye could see Gwen, Claude, and Lysithea desperately trying to change the subjects by looking up cute images of dogs and cats in their phones

“You disappeared,” Tyler said.

“No, no. I did not disappear.” Kris kept shaking his head.

“Yes, you did. You disappeared like you always do. Like you did in D.C., too.” Brad added.

Toomes glanced at Kris suspiciously. Kris could feel the vomit building up in his throat. He gulped. Toomes stopped at an intersection. “That’s terrible, what happened down there in D.C., though. Were you scared?” Kris nodded tersely. “I’ll bet you were glad when your old pal Kid-Arachnid showed up in the elevator, though, huh?”

Kris glanced at everyone else. Everyone, excluding Claude, Gwen, and Lysithea, had their eyes trained at him. Whatever he said may or may not determine the flow of what was going to happen. “Yeah, well, I actually didn’t go up. I saw it all from the ground.” Toomes stared at Kris through the rearview mirror intently. Everyone else went back to looking on their phones. His voice was dry as he spoke. “Very lucky that he was there that day.”

“ _Good old Kid-Arachnid._ ” The traffic light turned green. Car honks blared behind them. The sound of that, however, was drowned out for Kris. Kris felt a lump in his throat that he could barely explain.

“Uh, Dad, the light.” Toomes continued driving.

~~~

Outside of Midtown High, well-dressed teenagers were walking to the entrance decorated with colorful balloons. “Here we are. End of the line.”

“Thanks, Dad.” Tyler leaned forth and hugged his father.

Kris quickly removed his seatbelt and was close to opening the door, when: “You head in there, Gang. I wanna give Kris a talk.” Kris’ heart sank. He breathed deeply. A lump in his throat appeared out of nowhere. 

Tyler turned to Kris. “Don't let him intimidate you.”

“Bye, dad. Have a safe flight.”

Everyone got out of the car, and Toomes pulled out a Glock. The tense atmosphere in the car just dialled up to eleven. Kris had the urge to vomit, but doing so might just earn him a ticket to Hadestown, so he suppressed the urge. Kris remained so still, one might think that it’s a really good and convincing wax sculpture. 

“Look—I get it, Kid. You want to do the right thing. You want to be a hero. That’s great—Awesome. This is my last job, so just, this _one_ time, look the other way just once. And if you _don’t_ , I’ll _kill_ you and _everybody_ you love. I'll kill you _dead_. Do you understand?” Kris nodded tersely. “Hey. I just saved your life. Now, what do you say?”

“Thank you,” Kris said quietly.

“You’re welcome. Now, you go on in there, and you forget _any_ of this happened. Capiche?”

Kris nodded. He proceeded to step out of the car, with a tense expression on his face, and lost in his own thoughts. Toomes drove off. Kris entered the school. He walked down the hallway, all sounds muffled as if underwater. He stopped and watched his friends through the giant glass doors. Party in full swing. Spotting him, Claude waved. He stood completely still at the glass doors. He remembered the night his grandfather died. Before opening the doors, he decided:

“ _I will never look the other way again._ ”


	12. Pop Vulture / If This Be My Destiny...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After ditching his date at Homecoming, he has nothing else to do but to stop Vulture.

A beat, then Kris pulled open the door. Pop music and chattering instantly filled his ears. Lysithea was dancing with some of her friends. She turned to Kris when he approached. He just stared at her with an anxious look, and that concerned her. Lysithea realized that something is off. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m really sorry, but I have to do this. You don’t deserve this.” Kris hurried away, leaving Lysithea in the middle of the dance floor. She watched him go, craning her neck, wondering why he’d ditch her.

Kris rushed out through the hallway and tripped over his laces, slamming himself against the lockers as he untied his tie. He threw away his blazer and slowed down. He lifted a row of lockers with one hand, picked up his own, simpler suit. His homemade one. It had a red, sleeveless hoodie, a blue hoodie jacket, blue pants, red boots, and a simple mask. Luckily he had extra web-shooters and just a little bit of web fluid. But that was about it. Not much web fluid, but enough to hopefully survive the whole fight.

~~~

Now clad in his homemade suit, Kris exited the school. Kris struggled to put his hood up as he ran. As he was about to round a school bus, someone shocked him from behind, knocking his web-shooters out of his wrists. “He gave you a choice. You chose wrong.”

“Ah, what the heck?” Kris looked up at Schultz, squinting his eye lenses.

“What's with the crappy costume?” The Shocker prepared his gauntlet for another shot. He looked at his wrists. The web-shooters weren’t there anymore.

“My web-shooters…” he whispered. Kris searched for his web-shooter, which had fallen from the impact and was lying on the ground. Kris ran to the web-shooter, but Schultz hit a school bus to attack Kris, then kicked the web-shooter away.

“I wasn’t sure about this thing at first, but… damn.” Schultz hit Kris with the gauntlet, throwing him inside the bus.

Kris spots chewed gums under a seat. “Ugh, gross!” Schultz punched the bus into the air. The bus barrel rolled, making Kris tumble around in the bus, hitting the seats and the glass shards hitting his costume. Luckily, his costume was thick enough for the glass to not cut through. Opening the door, Kris fell out. He slowly crawled to his web-shooter, his every moment strained as he tried to reach for his web-shooters. “Why did he send you here?”

“Guess you'll never know…” Schultz prepared a blast, the gauntlet vibrating violently. Suddenly, a strand of web attached itself to the Shocker gauntlet. It’s Claude holding the web-shooter.

“Nice shot!” He exclaimed. Kris pulled the web-shooter to himself and trapped Schultz against the school bus with a web blast. Kris ran to Claude. “I gotta tell Mr. Stark. Call Happy Hogan—he’s Mr. Stark’s head of security. And, uh, get a computer to track my phone for me.”

“Are you gonna be okay?”

Kris jumped onto a streetlight and made a circular motion as he landed on the top of the streetlight, jumping and swinging.. “Hurry, we gotta catch him before he leaves town!” Claude hurried toward the school building.

~~~

“I’m sorry about dinner, but I know when branzino's fresh, and that was not fresh, okay? So…” 

Brad screamed as Kris lands on the bonnet of his car. He said, in a gravelly voice, “Brad, I need your car and your phone.” 

Kris figured this would be the only way he could conserve webbing. Especially since his combat style is based around using webbing about eighty-percent of the time. 

“Uh, sir, techni—tech—technically this is my dad's car, sir. So I can’t…”

Brad watched as Kris drove away in his car and hit a row of bikes. He whimpered. Kris made a call to Claude while driving precariously. Claude took it in the library, between rows of computers. “Hello, Claude? Hey, hey, hey, hey, can you hear me?”

“ _Go for Claude._ ”

“Claude, I need you to track my phone for me!” Kris pressed Brad’s phone between his head and shoulder as he kept driving, almost hitting every car he met. 

“ _Yeah, but where is it?_ ”

“Tyler’s Dad’s car!”

“ _Genius move. Okay, he just passed the GameStop on Jackson Avenue._ ”

“Hey, where are the headlights on this thing? I’m in Brad’s car!” Kris looked around, ignoring every other green light. He’s definitely gonna earn Brad’s dad a ticket, but he has to, or else the purpose of him stealing this car would be pointless. 

Claude rolls his chair to another computer. “ _I’ll pull the specs._ ”

"Okay, you’re on speakerphone!"

“ _You stole Brad’s car. Awesome,_ ” Claude chuckled as he rapidly typed on the keyboard.

“Yeah, it’s awesome. It’s awe—Whoah!” Kris nearly crashed into other cars. “Get out of the way, get out of the way! Move! Move!”

“ _Kris, are you okay?_ ”

“I've never really driven before. Only with the Quints in parking lots. This is a huge step up…” A car nearly hit Kris, who screamed even louder. Claude had to temporarily take his earpiece off. And despite that, he could still hear him screaming softly. “Hey, have you gotten through to Happy yet?”

“ _Yeah. I’m working on it. I just gotta backdoor the phone system._ ”

Claude rolled to the computer he was working on and rapidly typed on it. He then swivelled around with the chair, his arms raised to the air. “Guy in the chair!” 

~~~

Happy popped up on Claude’s computer screen. “ _Takeoff in nine minutes! Hello? Hello? Who is this?_ ”

Claude swivelled his chair to the computer Happy was on, happy that he managed to reach through to Happy. “Uh... Mr. Happy, it’s Claude. I'm an associate of Kristian Echarri. Got something very important to tell you—”

“ _You gotta be shitting me._ ”

The screen turned off. “Damn.”

~~~

“Hey, Claude, how we coming on with those headlights?” Kris finally reached an empty road, and he wouldn’t have to worry about crashing into any moving cars. He just has to watch out for the stationary ones.

“ _Uh… Round knob to the left of the steering wheel, turn clockwise._ ”

“Left. Okay. Okay, perfect. So where’s my phone now?”

“ _Um… He stopped in an old industrial park in Brooklyn._ ”

“What? That makes no sense! I thought he said he was going out of town!” The car Kris was driving was a literal hazard as it drove down the road. He dented a sign as he drove recklessly, because he didn’t know how to drive.

“ _Weird. Oh, I reached Mr. Happy. Don’t think he likes you, by the way. It sounded like he was catching a flight. He said something about taking off in nine minutes._ ”

“What?”

“ _He was surrounded by a bunch of boxes._ ”

“ _Boxes?_ ” Kris thought for a few seconds. The realization hit him. His heart started beating faster. His eye lenses, along with his actual eyes, widened. “It’s moving day... It’s moving day! It’s moving day! They’re gonna move some of their stuff there and he's gonna rob that plane, I gotta stop him!”

~~~

Kris drives down an empty road at a high speed. “ _Okay, slow down. You're getting close. It’s on your right._ ”

“What?”

“ _Turn right! Turn right!_ ” Kris shot his web to make a sharp turn. He screamed as the car crashed into a streetlight and was almost overturned. It slid down the road on its side, then finally screeched to a stop. The car flipped back to how it normally would be, the side that it slid on completely black with scratch marks. Smoke rose from the side. “ _Kris! You okay?_ ”

Kris caught a few breaths. “Yeah... Yeah. Just keep trying to get through to Happy.”

~~~

“It’s been an honor, Kid-Arachnid.” Suddenly, the lights turn on. Mr. Tennant was standing behind Claude.

“What are you doing here? There’s a dance.”

Claude turned around and hurriedly closed the laptop. “Uh…” He had to think of something. The only thing that came to mind was most likely gonna get him in trouble, but it was the best he had at the moment. “I’m… playing… Cool… Math Games.” 

~~~

A small window in the ceiling opened. Kris hung from his web and slowly descended into the building. The room was filled with computers and gadgets. Monitors showed Avengers Tower and the blueprint of Stark’s plane. He spotted Vulture’s wingsuit and went deeper inside. He found Toomes in the empty parking lot, who was working on something. The place he was in was pretty big. “Hey! Surprised?”

“Oh, hey, Kris. I didn’t hear you come in.” Toomes turned around, dusting his hands and leaning against the table he worked at.

“It’s over! I got you!”

“You know, I gotta tell you, Kris, I really, really admire your grit.” He took a jacket from his table and wore it. It resembled a vulture’s fluffy part of the neck. “You know—this is also where this all went to _shit_ for me.”

“What…?” Kris bit back the “language”.

“Stark’s buddy’s buddy? _Falcon?_ That was _my_ tech. _I_ made it, and General Ross, whatever the hell he was, he said they’d take care of the project. Left me out of a job. Then, I had to make my own salvaging company. And look who you thought, Tony Stark came in and took _everything._ ”

“Is this why you did this to them? Your family?” Kris stopped, keeping a distance between him and Toomes.

“ _To_ them? I’m not doing anything to them, Kid. I’m doing this _for_ them.”

“Huh, yeah.” Kris shot his web and glued Toomes’ left hand against the desk, knocking down a bottle of beer.

Toomes sighed. His posture relaxed. “Kristian, you’re _young_. You don’t understand how the _world_ works.”

“Yeah, but I understand that selling weapons to criminals is _wrong._ ” Kris jabbed a finger at Toomes’ direction. 

“How do you think your buddy Stark paid for that tower? Or any of his little toys? Those people, Kris, those people up there, the rich and the powerful, they do whatever they want. Guys like us… you and me? They don’t care about us. We build their roads and we fight all their wars and everything, but they don’t care about us. We have to pick up after ‘em. We have to eat their table scraps. That’s how it is. I know you know what I’m talking about, Kristian.”

Kris looked down. What Toomes said was sort of true. He sighed and looked back up.“Why are you telling me this?” 

“Because I want you to _understand_. And… I needed a little time to get her airborne.” Toomes took a folding knife out of his pocket. The wingsuit flew out from behind Kris’ back, which he avoided. In the confusion of the moment, Toomes used it as an opportunity to cut himself free from the web. The wingsuit continued to attack Kris, but he avoided it with quick movements. “I’m sorry, Kristian.”

Kris backflipped, sliding around when he struck a pose. He stood up, looking at the wingsuit. “What are you talking about? That thing hasn't even touched me yet!”

“True. Then again... it wasn't really _trying_ to.” Kris realized that the wingsuit _wasn’t_ attacking him; instead, it was chopping down the pillars. The building collapsed, its wreckage rained down on Kris and buried him. Vulture took one last look at the pile of debris covering Kris. He smirked to himself. “That was too easy.” 

He walked out of the building, smoke covering the area behind him as the wingsuit hovered down to him, the grass moving from the wind of the wingsuit. He paused to stare at the Avengers Tower.

~~~

Grunts and cries could be heard. It was Kris under the debris, still alive. He panicked and took off his mask. He just managed to get his head free under the debris. “Oh, god. Okay, get ready.” He tried to get up but immediately failed. “HELLO?! _HELLO!!!_ Please. Hey, hey, please. I’m down here. I’m down here. I’m stuck. I’m stuck. I can’t move. I can’t…”

Water started to flow into his area. He was in a low-lying area, and water flowed in. Toomes must have planned this out, that clever bastard. He probably put a water tank above to drown him if he managed to survive the debris. The only thing was to hope that he managed to get stuck in a low-lying area. Well, he got him. He was stuck, with water slowly filling the area. He was gonna drown, and that made him panic further. “Come on, come on, come on, please, please, please, please. _Please._ ”

The thing wouldn’t budge, even if he tried. It was painful to even lift. It didn’t help that he felt like he was going under, but if he did that, that would leave the water to slowly fill in and drown him. It also didn’t help that the water was cold as heck. His muscles were stiff. 

He caught his breath, relaxing a little bit. “Everyone’s right, I’m... Just a kid. I’m not cut out for this. I’m not a hero, I’m… just a _kid._ Who was bitten by a _spider._ ”

“ _No._ ” A voice told him. “ _I **am** a hero. I was given this gift by chance, but I have to use it to help people. I am a hero. I am Kid-Arachnid._”

He has to try to free himself. No matter how impossible it may seem. Lifting this rubble is the only way. It was straining to get up, and he’s completely exhausted just by trying to lift it with his back alone. His head hurts. He was going under.

_No._ No matter the odds, no matter the cost, he’ll lift that pile of rubble and stop Vulture. He has the strength of a super-powered human. And now, he has got to call on all that strength. All the power he possesses. He has to prove equal to the task, he must be worthy of that strength. That power was given to him for a reason. And if he doesn’t prove himself worthy of that strength, he doesn’t deserve it.

But the weight of the rubble was unbearable. Every single muscle aches. His head was spinning. Everything felt like it was beginning to whirl around him—like spinning around constantly. It’s making him dizzy. The strain—it was completely unbearable.

_No. Never again._ He shouldn’t give up now, nor close his eyes. Because if he does, he would go under. And he must stay awake. He _has_ to stay awake. Clear his mind. That’s what he has to do. Clear his mind and keep trying. He will do it. He can and will. He won’t fail any longer. 

“Come on, Kid-Arachnid. Come on, Kid-Arachnid, come on Kid-Arachnid.” He screamed from the strain. It ached his back every time he pushed, but he had to. No one else will come, so he has to do it himself. “ _COME ON, KID-ARACHNID!_ ”

Anyone could win a fight when the odds are easy—it’s when the going gets tough, and when there seems to be no chance at all. That’s when it counts. And wallowing in sorrow is not where he wants to be. Because this isn’t a catastrophe that could measure up to him. He learnt that from Spongebob. All he needs to do is to hold on. Just a _little_ while longer.

Kris could feel the rubble move. “It’s moving! Can’t stop now!” Kris lifted the rubble and has his hands pressed against the rubble now. So what, if he’s ‘just a kid’? If he could shoulder these responsibilities, that meant that he grew up a lot for a fifteen-year-old. 

And then, as the agonizing ache in his limbs seems unendurable, as his muscled body suffers the torment of a virtually indescribable ordeal, from out of the pain, from out of the agony, comes _triumph!_


	13. Fight Or Flight / The Hero He Was Meant To Be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After freeing himself from the debris Vulture trapped him under, Kris made it his objective to stop Vulture.

Kris spotted Vulture perching on top of a stripped billboard. Vulture spread his wings and prepared for takeoff. Kris shot his web as he leapt and swung onto the billboard, but narrowly missed Vulture, who flew away. He landed on a billboard and shot another one of his webbing directly at Vulture’s back and landed it.

The outer panels of the plane light up and mirrored New York City. Vulture went after the plane. “Got a visual on the plane, feeling a little resistance.”

“ _It’s probably just a drag on the new turbines._ ” 

Vulture checked behind him but missed Kris, who was hanging from a web attached to his back. As Vulture went higher and higher up, the night view of New York City grew smaller and smaller under Kris’ feet before it completely disappeared because of the clouds.

Vulture flew to the bottom of the plane and held on. Kris bumped into the plane a few times but managed to grab onto it, gripping his side. “Oh my god, oh my god!”

“ _Deploying High Altitude Vacuum Seal._ ”

“This better work, Mason!” The wingsuit wrapped around Vulture like a shell, covering him completely. Kris looked up to see the shell, wondering how it worked. Despite the fact Vulture was a bad guy, he still couldn’t help but be fascinated with his tech. 

“ _Trust me, boss. Even one of those boxes and we are set for *life*._ ”

“Yeah.” Vulture sprayed the air around him before placing the matter phase shifter on the plane, creating a small rectangular window, and moving inside. Kris tried to follow Vulture by shooting a web, but that failed and blew right at his face. That distracted him enough to lose his grip and slide to the back of the plane. He managed to grip the narrow area of the plane, being the back.

“You have thirty seconds to get to the cockpit and override their security.”

Vulture walked to the front and ripped out the door. The cockpit was empty. Just as he hoped. Stark was confident that nobody was planning a heist on the plane. Clearly, he’s wrong. Outside, a blown-up image of Kris crawling down the plane displayed at the top. He must have been caught in the cloaking cameras, and he didn’t realize. He approached the wingsuit and tried to open it. Vulture connected a device to the plane. “Cloning transponder signal.”

“ _Launching decoy drone._ ”

A small drone was launched out from the wingsuit, startling Kris. 

“Entering new coordinates.” Vulture manipulated the cockpit dashboard, piloting the plane off track. The drone still flew in the track the plan was supposed to go. Kris watched from outside, wondering what was going on inside the plane. He was still struggling to open the wingsuit, and no matter how strong he was, he just couldn’t get it to budge. 

Inside the plane, Vulture found the boxes and took off his mask.

“Hot dog…” Toomes whispered. He looked like a child in a candy store. All of this he could steal. All of this must have been worth more than all the money he could imagine. He opened one box after another. Rows and rows of Chitauri guns, arc reactors, etc. He took out an Iron Man mask and smirked at it before he threw it on the floor. 

Kris kicked Vulture’s wingsuit and pushed it aside a bit. The air pressure inside the cabin dropped, activating the alarm. Vulture checked an external monitor and realized that Kris had followed him. He growled in anger.

Vulture suddenly came out, his wingsuit already attached to him. He flew back, adjusting his speed to the equivalent of the speed of the plane first. Kris struggled to hold on the plane, and his hood that flapped violently behind his head didn’t help at all. He could barely see with that _and_ the whirring wind that blasted at his eyes. He had to blink almost every second just to keep his eyes moist. “Just a typical homecoming… on the outside of an invisible jet… fighting my senior’s dad!”

Vulture came at him and slashed at the panels right above his head. Kris shot a web at him. He was suspended in the air. One hand holding onto the web sticking to the plane, another hand holding onto the web glued to Vulture. The webbing snapped, and that threw him off, the turbines sucked him towards it. “Oh frick! Oh!”

He shot his webs in an attempt to stop the propellers. Vulture, who was also dragged to the engines, escaped death, but his wingsuit was a bit damaged. Hanging onto propeller blades laced with spiderwebs, Kris sighed in relief. “Whew. I can’t believe that worked!”

Suddenly, the propeller fell off. His webbing was enough to stick the propeller to the plane, but he doubted the webbing would last long. He reached for the plane. His finger touched it, but he didn’t grab a hold of it. He reached as far as he could, and he grabbed it. Kris turned around and kicked the propeller off his body. Vulture flew back and attacked Kris. He avoided them, but Vulture kept coming at him. Sparks flew at his face, and he closed his eyes. Vulture slid across to him, the talons keeping him steady. The impact set one of the engines on fire. Kris clung onto the side of the engine with a thin strand of web, screaming.

“Chief, chief, they’re losing altitude. Get out of there.”

“I’m not going home empty-handed!” Vulture set to break open the ceiling of the plane, fighting to stay on the plane from the powerful wind that could blow him away if he wasn’t careful enough. Still hanging from the engine, Kris managed to pull himself closer. Once he reached the engine, he looked up. From beyond the clouds, he could see the city growing closer and closer. “Oh, my goodness.” 

Kris turned around and shot a web at the right-wing of the plane and pulled on it to change the plane’s direction. He pulled as hard as he could, taking a few steps back every few seconds. On the streets, passersby watched as the plane flew overhead, smoke left behind. Vulture tore open the ceiling and held a box in his claws. “Get out of there! What are you doing?”

Kris continued to struggle with the plane. “Please turn! _Please turn!_ ” He repeatedly begged the plane, even if it wouldn’t listen to his voice over the loud clanging of metal from the Vulture or the fire, or even sentient. The webbing snapped, making Kris fall over to the other back wing. He just gripped the back wing of the plane as he looked up. The plane narrowly misses crashing into the city and heads toward Coney Island. Instead of escaping, Vulture tried to hold onto a box, the inside of the plane crashing into each other and falling over in different places.

The plane hit a ride and crash-lands on the beach of Coney Island. Kris lost hold of the plane and rolled down the beach.Vulture fell as well. The plane slowed to a stop as everything was consumed in flames. Kris slowly got up and struggled to take off his mask as he tried to get as much air as he could. The second he removed it, a ringing noise forced its way down his ears. He could barely hear anything. Kris sluggishly staggered up to his feet, one eye closed. The Vulture suddenly appeared from out of the smoke while his guard was down. And the impact from Vulture’s attack was enough for Kris’ hearing to return to normal. He got back up, looking at Vulture. Sparks flew from his wings as he struggled to get them upward; it was clear he suffered some serious damage from the plane crash, too. He revved his wingsuit. “Hey, Kristoff.”

Kris readied himself. As Vulture swooped in to attack him, Kris rolled at his direction, dodging the attack. Vulture hit a remnant of the plane as he flew upward. Kris jumped from his roll, turned around, and shot a web. It missed, and he got pinned to the ground like a bird of prey. The talons tighten its grip on him, and he screamed. Vulture rained down punches at him. But just as he was about to rain down another, Kris grabbed his wrist. He tightened his grip on Vulture’s wrist, and sparks flew at his face. Vulture flew higher, kicking him. Kris managed to free himself from Vulture’s grasp, but started to fall. He turned around. He was about to fall onto burning remnants of the plane. Kris webbed Vulture, and his foot kicked the remnant. It burnt his foot as he went up to kick Vulture. When Kris went up higher than he expected, he used it to grab Vulture’s head and pulled him downward, sweeping away the sand and remnants. But as he did so, Kris fell down and got a facefull of sand. 

Before he could get up, however, Vulture swooped in and slammed him to the ground four times. After the fourth, he kicked Kris into the ground. Kris flipped onto his back sluggishly, leaving Vulture to stab his hood. Vulture picked him up, studying his limp body, when he spotted a crate. “ _Bingo._ ”

Vulture let go of him and took off his helmet. He flew up to the crateful of arc reactors and grabbed it with his talons. But his wingsuit could barely move from the weight of the crate. Sparks rained down from the suit as he tried to lift the crate, but he didn’t stop. Kris looked up. “Your wingsuit…Your wingsuit’s gonna explode!”

Kris lifted a weary arm. It pained him to do it, but he had to. He shot a web at the crate and pulled with all his might. A tug of war ensued between the crate. “Time to go home, Kris.”

“I’m trying to _save_ you!” Kris slid slowly as Vulture overpowered the tug of war. He couldn’t do anything, because of how tired and painful it was for him to move even his arms. Vulture cut the web with his wing and tried to fly off. Kris tried to shoot more webs, but he ran out. His heart sank. He looked up to see the wingsuit fail on Vulture. He covered his head. But when he saw the fire that erupted from the fall, he knew he had to do something. He can’t allow Tyler to lose his dad. “ _No!_ ”

Kris struggled to get up and ran into the flames. He spotted Toomes under the wingsuit and tried to lift the wingsuit off him, but screamed as he made contact with hot metal. However, he didn’t give up. He picked the wingsuit up, the metal sizzling, and pushed it over, finding Toomes. He carried him away from the flames. Kris laid Toomes down on the beach. Kris lied down beside him, wheezing and coughing from the smoke and flames. Kris stood up, gripping his shoulder and looking down at Toomes. Toomes returned the gaze.

~~~

The flames had died out a little. A search party was scouring the beach. Happy found Vulture tied to a pile of crates with spiderwebs with a note is attached beside him:

_FOUND FLYING VULTURE GUY. COURTESY, KID-ARACHNID._

_P.S. SORRY ABOUT YOUR PLANE._

Happy raised his head and looked around as if searching for someone.

Fire engines and police cars passed by the Cyclone. Sitting on top of the Cyclone was Kris. He looked down at the vehicles going to the beach. Probably to deal with Toomes. Still, he managed to save Tyler’s Dad’s life. He saved a person from losing their father, and that was all that mattered, but his secret will be out. That’d mean his family would be burdened with the thought of Adrian being the Vulture. He sighed, closing his eyes and leaning his head against the pole.

~~~

Midtown High. Students were taking down the homecoming banner. Unlike last week, where the whole hall was busy, and the two of them had to stand by the corners, waiting for the hustle and bustle to die down, it was more quiet. Less busy. Kris and Claude were having their conversation as they walked. “It looked so insane. That whole… Like, it was just crazy. He, he was just like, ‘Jsshhhh’ and you were like, ‘Ahhhhh!’, and then I just hit him with the ‘thwip!’ It was so, oh, my god.”

“I mean—you saved me. It was awesome.” 

Kris spotted Tyler at the end of the corridor. His mom was walking beside him with a box full of his belongings. His fellow senior friends ran to Tyler and hugged him. Claude pushed him. Kris sighed. “Hey, Tyler—look, I’m so sorry.” 

“You say that a lot, what are you sorry for this time?” He asked. “My dad?”

“Hey—look—I can’t imagine what you’re going through. If there’s anything I could do to help…”

“I guess we’re moving to Oregon. Mom says it’s nice there, so that’s cool.” Kris nodded silently. “Anyways, Dad doesn’t want us here during the trial, so…”

“Tyler, I…” A hand was placed on Kris’ shoulder.

“Hey, man. Just… whatever’s going on with you, I hope you figure it out.” Tyler patted his shoulder and jogged over to his mother, where the both of them left through the door. Kris sighed, returning to where Claude was and the both of them continued their route to the Geography Classroom. 

As they were walking, a news broadcast played on the TV.   
“ _Questions remain this morning as authorities piece together the alarming events at this weekend's homecoming dance._ ”

“ _An unidentified male individual assailant was taken into custody after police found him attached to the side of a bus with Spider-Man or Kid-Arachnid webs._ ” An image popped up that showed the dented bus. It must have been Kris that was knocked into the bus for that to happen. It cut to Principal Danson.

“ _To those of you—_ ” Principal Danson begins walking around but accidentally trips on something and falls. The duo laughed so hard they got to their knees. It cut back to Principal Danson, who was now sitting down.

“ _To those of you who took inappropriate selfies with the perpetrator webbed to the bus, you have 24 hours to remove them from all of your social media accounts_.” It cut to another student, who stared blankly at the camera, before grinning and slowly revealing that he had the gauntlet.

~~~

Kris had been kicked off the Decathlon Team, but they still kept him in the group chat, only because they find him amusing when he’s _not_ ditching the club. He passed by the Decathlon as he walked around the library in search for comic books to borrow. But when he turned the corner, Lysithea was there. “Oh, hey,” He said. “Aren’t you supposed to be in the meeting place, or…”

“I asked to go to the bathroom, why?”

“I don’t know, it’s just—”

“Good, because I wanna say this to you.” Kris looked around in confusion. “Even if everyone else in the Decathlon hates you, except for Gwen, Claude and I, of course, it’ll all get better soon. And I’ll be there.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks.” Lysithea gave a small wave and brisk-walked out of the aisle. Kris stood there, returning the small wave, even if she wasn’t there. He took one step, and his phone vibrated. He whipped his phone and read the message from an unknown number.

“ _Go to the bathroom._ ” It said.

Kris walked toward the nearest bathroom. He rounded the corner and found Happy waiting for him in the bathroom. “Hey, Happy. What, uh… what are you doing here?”

“I really owe you one. I don't know what I would do without this job. I mean, before I met Tony—”

A toilet flushed and cut him off. They awkwardly stood there as a student came out, washed his hands, wiped them, and left the bathroom, throwing a long, confused glance at them.

“So, uh, how long have you been here?” Kris asked.

“Long enough to be awkward. Boss wants to see you.”

He pointed to the stall on his right and whispered, “Is he here, too?”

“In the toilet? No, he’s upstate.” 

“Upstate? Like, upstate-upstate?” 

Happy walked past him. “Yeah, let's go.”

~~~

Inside Happy’s car, a dashboard display said:

“You may take your hands off the steering wheel.”

“Take a look. It's pretty impressive, huh?” Kris leaned forth to get a better view of the new facility in the car. “They just finished remodeling the whole thing.” Outside the window, he saw the New Avengers Facility. Kris studies the facility with an awed expression. He saw the reflection of a Quinjet taking off.

~~~

Inside the compound, Kris watched a Quinjet fly off with a huge grin. “You don't see that every day.”

Kris whipped around to find Tony approaching him. “Oh, there they are. How was the ride up?”

“Good.” Happy answered for Kris.

“Give me a minute with the kid.”

Happy raised both eyebrows. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. I gotta talk to him.”

“I’ll be close behind.”

“How about a loose follow? All right? Boundaries are good.” Tony walked toward Kris and playfully punched him in the shoulder, then wrapped an arm around him. “Sorry I took your suit. I mean, you had it coming. Actually, it turns out it was the perfect sort of tough-love moment that you needed, right? To urge you on, right? Wouldn’t you think? Don’t you think?”

“Yeah, yeah, I guess,” Kris quietly said.

“Let's just say it was.”

Tony sighs and continues leading Kris towards a door. “Mr. Stark, I really—”

“You screwed the pooch _hard. Big time._ But then you did the right thing. Took the dog to the free clinic, you raised the hybrid puppies… All right, not my best analogy.” Tony responded. “I was wrong about you. I think, with a little more mentoring, you could be a real asset to the team.”

“To the... to—to the team?” Kris stuttered.

“Yeah. Anyway…” Tony pointed at the door. “There are about fifty reporters behind that door. Real ones, not bloggers…”

He pressed some buttons on his watch and a secret compartment in the wall opens, revealing a brand new Kid-Arachnid suit—his own Iron Spider suit. “When you’re ready... Why don’t you try that on? And I’ll introduce the world to the newest official member of the Avengers: Kid-Arachnid.”

“I…” Kris chuckled, amazed. For a moment, it looked like his pupils largened.

“Yeah. Give that a look.” Kris continued to admire the Iron Spider Armor. “So, after the press conference, Happy will show you to your room, your new quarters.”

Tony turned to Happy. “Where’s he between? He’s between Vision and Peter?”

“Yeah, Vision’s not big on doors.” Happy said. “Or walls.”

Tony turned to Kris. “You’ll fit right in.”

Kris hesitated for a moment, then turned to Tony. “Thank you, Mr. Stark. But I’m good.”

“You're good? Good? How are you ‘good’?”

“Well, I mean, I'm... I’d rather just stay on the ground for a little while. Friendly neighborhood Kid-Arachnid. Somebody’s got to look out for the little guy, right?”

Tony takes off his sunglasses and stares into Kris' eyes. “You turning me down? You better think about this.” He points to the Iron Spider. “Look at that. Look at me. Last chance, yes or no?”

“No.”

“Okay. It’s kind of a Springsteen-y, working-class hero vibe that I dig. Uh, Happy will take you home. Yeah?”

“Mind waiting in the car? I need a minute.” Happy told Kris.

“Thank you, Mr. Stark.”

“Yes, Mr. Echarri. Very well.”

Tony and Kris shook hands. Kris started to leave with a spring in his step, but then slowed to a stop and turned to Tony, who was putting the Iron Spider Armor away with a tap of his watch. “That was a test, right? There's uh, nobody back there?”

“Yes, you passed. All right, skedaddle there, young buck.”

“Thank you, Mr. Stark. Thank you.”

“Yeah, thank _you._ ”

Kris walked out of the compound, with a smile blossoming in his face.

~~~

Kris entered his room and threw his keys on a table. He stopped when he found a brown paper bag that says:

_This belongs to you. -TS_

It was sitting on his bed. Taking out his earphones, he grinned. Kris got into his Kid-Arachnid suit. He finally saw himself as his own hero. He put on the mask and leapt out the window. He swung through Manhattan, he’s wall running and flipping, and he used his web wings a bit.

An alarm blared. Kris looked down to see a thug just robbing a bank. His web wings were still out, he swung down and grabbed the guy under his arm and just stopped. Imagine a freeze-frame. And imagine that super iconic Amazing Fantasy #15 Cover, but now with Kid-Arachnid.


	14. Infinity Wars Pt. 1

Two years later. The year was 2018.

Kris was on the bus to MoMA. He had his head leaned on the window. The hairs on his arm stood up. Something was off. He looked out to see a giant circular spaceship. It resembled a doughnut. A really thin and giant one. Kris turned to Claude, who was playing Breath of the Wild. Tapping his best friend’s shoulder in the seat beside him, Kris whispered, “Hey, Claude. I need you to create a distraction.”

Claude looked out to see the space ship. “Holy sh—we’re all gonna die! There’s a spaceship!” (Fun fact that was his genuine reaction) Students scrambled to the windows in the back to see the spaceship. Kris quickly slid on one of his Stark-made web-shooters and webbed the emergency exit lever on the opposite side of the bus.

“What’s the matter with you kids? You’ve never seen a spaceship before?” The bus driver asked. Kris jumped out the window, clinging to the side of the bus and putting on his mask. He grabbed his backpack before leaping over the side of the bridge, shooting a web and swinging free. His feet skimmed the water as he swung. He made his way hastily towards the ship.

~~~

Tony flew through Ebony Maw’s obstacle course but was cut short by Cull Obsidian’s hammer, sending him through a building and into the park at high speed, plowing into the ground and fetching up against a tree. Bruce rushes over to Tony. “Tony, you okay? How we doing? Good? Bad?”

Tony turned to Bruce, still leaning against the tree. “Really, really good. Really good. Do you plan on helping out?”

“I’m trying. He won’t come out.” Cull Obsidian arrived at the park and threw his hammer at Bruce and Tony.

“Hammer.” Tony pushed Bruce out of the way. Tony’s energy beam deflected off Cull Obsidian’s shield, slicing down trees. Bruce barely evaded one.

Crawling out from under the branches, desperate and confused, Bruce begged for Hulk to come out. “Come on, Hulk. What are you doing to me?” He proceeded to slap himself multiple times in an effort to get the green guy out. “Come out! Come out! Come out!”

Half of Bruce’s face becomes the Hulk. “Nooooooo!” Bruce fell back exhausted into his tree. “What do you mean, ‘no’?!”

Iron Man was knocked down by Obsidian, who was about to deliver a decisive blow, but the alien’s hammer is easily caught by Spider-Man and Kid-Arachnid. They both peer out from both sides of the hammer. “Hey, man!”

Peter turned to Tony, while Kris still trained his eyes at Obsidian. “What’s up, Tony/Mr. Stark?”

“You two, where did you come from?” Tony asked.

“Spider-Sense brought me here!” Peter responded.

“Field trip!” Kris added. Cull Obsidian grabbed the duo and threw them away. “TO MOMA!”

“What is this guy's problem, Mr. Stark?” Kris asked as he continued to dodge more of Cull Obsidian’s hammer attacks.

“He’s from space. He came here to steal a necklace from a wizard.” Tony responded. Kris and Peter gave the look, even if Tony can’t see it, and they weren’t even facing him. But then again, Tony doesn’t usually joke about stuff like this so he’s most likely telling the truth.

~~~

Tony, Kris, and Peter were still fighting Cull Obsidian, as Doctor Strange passed through the park. “Echarri, Parker, that’s the wizard. Get on it.”

“Copy that!” Kris and Peter chased Ebony Maw, floating speedily and upright on a small platform of burbling debris leaving a deep rut in the streets, who in turn chased the Cloak-driven Doctor Strange through Manhattan; Maw attacked him, throwing a Rocket Mortgage billboard at them to get rid of them.

“Not cool!” Kris shouted as the two of them untangled themselves. Maw bended all the utility poles in the path of the fleeing Cloak, finally snagging the loyal garment and ripping it loose of its master. Peter scooped up Doctor Strange before he hit the pavement, but before he could get away with the unconscious Doctor Strange, a cone of blue light started pulling the mage inexorably upwards. Peter grabbed a light pole to anchor himself, but Maw uprooted it, sending Doctor Strange, Cloak, and young adult on their way to his ship.

“Uh, Tony? I’m being beamed up!” Peter said. Kris jumped in at an attempt to save Peter, not realizing how strong the beam thing really was. The both of them were pulled upward, and it felt weird. It was like the whole of their bodies were weightless, like their internal organs lifted with them.

“Hang on, kids.”

Cull Obsidian’s hammer doubled as a claw, pinning Tony to the ground and shorting his suit. As Obsidian jumped towards him, blades ready to end this fight, he was sent through a portal instead. The alien turned and leapt to return the same way, but Wong closed it rapidly—only Obsidian’s severed hand made it back to the park. Bruce kicked the hand away with a noise of disgust. Tony shook himself free of the Dwarf’s weapon, now powerless. “Wong, you’re invited to my wedding.”

Tony began to fly towards the large ship. “Give me a little juice, FRIDAY.” Tony’s foot thrusters morphed together into a single larger jet and increased his speed considerably.

Tony, still in pursuit of the ship, Peter, and Kris, told FRIDAY to unlock 17-A and 17-B. A pod launched from the upstate Avengers headquarters and curved up to the accelerating circular ship. “Kris, Pete, you gotta let go. I’m gonna catch you.”

“But you said to save the wizard!” They both insisted. They started to feel a little bit light-headed, like their brains were growing lighter. They took off their masks and gasped for air. “I can’t breathe!

“You’re too high up. You’re running out of air.”

“Yeah! That makes sense…” Peter blurted out.

Both of them passed out, free-falling, but not for long before the pod reached them. It attached itself to their backs, becoming the Iron Spider suit. Now being able to breathe, Kid-Arachnid and Spider-Man land on the bottom part of the ship, standing up heroically. 

This was one of the few moments Kris felt cool. Especially since he donned the new Iron Spider suit. Which was surprisingly really flexible for metal. He wondered what new features he’ll learn once he got to have a little bit of fun with it. 

“Tony/Mr. Stark, it smells like a new car in here!” The both of them commented.

“Happy trails, kids. FRIDAY, send Kris home.”

“ _Yep._ ”

A large parachute extended from the new suit, snatching Kris free of the ship’s hull and him spiraling back to Earth. “OH, _COME ON!_ ”

Iron Man latched onto the hull and cut a hole to board the ship, looking for wherever Strange and Ebony Maw went. Peter shrugged to himself and crawled to where the hole was.

“ _Boss, incoming call from Miss Potts._ ” Tony nodded his head, accepting the call. 

“Tony? Oh, my God. Are you all right? What's going on?”

“Yeah, I'm fine. I just think we might have to push our 8:30 res.”

“Why?” 

While looking at the ship around him, Tony said, “Just ‘cause I'll… probably not make it back for a while.”

“Tell me you're not on that ship.”

“Yeah.” Peter walked toward Tony and patted his back to attempt to comfort him. It wasn’t the best, but it was the best he had at the moment.

“God, no. Please tell me you're not on that ship.”

“Honey, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I don’t know what to say.”

“Come back here, Tony. I swear to God…”

“Pep…”

“Come back here right now! Come back!”

“Boss, we're losing her. I'm going, too…”

~~~

Kris managed to shoot a web to the outside of the ship, foiling his parachute. He clambered inside the slowly-closing chamber and looked back at the rapidly-receding planet behind him. He sighed to himself, wondering what he was gonna do. 

“I should have stayed on the bus…”


	15. Infinity Wars Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once Kris decided to think it through in the chamber, he decided to assist Tony and Peter in rescuing Dr. Strange, knowing little of what's to come.

Ebony Maw was interrogating Dr. Strange. Dr. Strange was floating horizontally, face down, and was surrounded by dozens of glassy needles, each about two feet long. He trained his eyes at Dr. Strange. “In all the time I have served Thanos, I have never failed him. If I were to reach our rendezvous on Titan with the Time Stone still attached to your vaguely irritating person, there would be… judgment.”

The needles slowly inch toward him before they start to contact Dr. Strange’s face, causing an obviously painful whitish subcutaneous glow at each touch “Give me... the stone.”

Tony and Peter, who were watching, hidden, from above. The Cloak of Levitation tapped Stark on the arm. He raised his hand to it, ready to shoot, but he saw what it was and stood down. “Wow you're a seriously loyal piece of outerwear, aren't you?”

Kris slinked down in classic spider-style. He dropped down. “Yeah, uh, speaking of loyalty…”

Tony, Peter, and the Cloak turn to face Kris, dropping down from above. “What the—”

“I know what you’re gonna say.” Kris quickly said.

“You should not be here.” The Cloak moves to 'stand' at Tony's side

“I was gonna go home—”

Tony raised a hand. “I don't wanna hear it.”

“But it was such a long way down and I just thought about you on the way…” Kris pointed at Tony to emphasize his point.

“And now I gotta hear it.” The Cloak shook its collar in sympathy and Peter shrugged at Tony. 

“...And I kinda stuck to the side of the ship. And this suit is—ridiculously intuitive, by the way. So if anything, it's kinda your fault that I’m here.” Kris raised both hands.

The Cloak looks shocked. Peter had his hands slapped against his cheeks, quite similar to how Deadpool does it. Tony tilted his head. “What did you just say?”

Kris immediately understood he was gonna get reprimanded. He had to quickly say something to save his bacon. “I take that back. And now I'm here in space.”

“Yeah.” Tony crossed to stand right in front of Kris. “Right where I don't want you to be. This isn’t Coney Island. This isn’t a field trip. It’s a one-way ticket. You hear me? Don’t pretend like you thought this through. You could not have possibly thought this through.”

Kris looked offended, even if he barely thought this through. “No. I _did_ think this through.”

“You could not have possibly thought this through,” Tony repeated.

“It’s just... you can’t be a friendly neighborhood Kid-Arachnid if there’s no neighborhood,” Kris responded. He was kind of happy he was able to improvise that on the spot. He waited for Tony’s reaction. He had to quickly say something or else to clarify or else that’d be confusing. “Okay. That didn’t really make any sense, but you know what I’m trying to say… right?”

Tony breathed shakily and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Come on. We got a situation." 

Kris walked with a spring in his first few steps. He led Kris over to a viewpoint on the torture below. Peter was still crouching to study the situation, the Cloak leaning over his shoulder. “See him down there? He’s in trouble. What’s your plan? Go.”

“Um. Okay, okay… uh…” Peter and the Cloak pop back upright. Kris thought of this on the spot. He stood back up to face Tony. “Okay. Did you ever see this really old movie, Aliens?”

The Cloak lifts its collar in surprise. Peter grins.

~~~

Back to Ebony Maw interrogating Dr. Strange, who groaned loudly. “Painful aren’t they? They were originally designed for microsurgery. And anyone of them…”

At the ‘thump’ behind him, Maw turned to see Tony standing there, hand repulsors ready to fire. “...Could end your friend's life in an instant,” Maw continued.

“I gotta tell you, he's not really my friend. Saving his life is more a professional courtesy,” Tony responded.

Maw walked slowly towards Tony, beckoning very large, very solid metal objects to float behind him. “You’ve saved nothing. Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine.”

“Yeah, but the kid’s seen more movies.”

Tony fired a rocket from his shoulder which pierced the side of the ship to Maw's right and began to suck everything out with depressurization, especially Maw and his large objects. Dr. Strange was pulled loose of his pinnings, lost the needles, but also headed for the hole, helpless to resist. The Cape wrapped around his arm and an anchor point, but Dr. Strange's arm slipped loose and he kept going. Peter shot a web strand at Dr. Strange with one hand and held onto a piece of the ship with the other. It broke, sending them both towards space when his Iron-Spider suit’s metal arms popped out from the back and braced him to keep him from being sucked out. Fortunately, Dr. Strange was still surrounded by the ship's atmosphere, making haste to leave. “Yes! Wait what are those?!”

Peter crouches with his new spider-legs and makes a mighty leap to pulls them both back inside. Tony quickly sprays nanites onto the hole to plug it up. Dr. Strange safely, if emphatically, hits the floor. Ebony Maw is seen floating in space, quite dead, ice from the escaped atmosphere frosting over his grimace. Spider-Man lands on his new legs and retracts them and finds the Cape “standing” next to him.

“Do I have those?” Kris wondered. He strained his arms and it naturally came out. His mind got stuck between ‘sick’ and ‘sweet’, so he said, “ _Swick!_ ”

“Hey, we haven't officially met.” Kris and Peter said, holding their hands out to the Cloak. It ignores their offer and continues to Dr. Strange. “Cool.”

Tony walked past Dr. Strange, shaking his head and with his armor retreating into its containment as Dr. Strange got to his feet and became en-Cloaked. “We've gotta turn this ship around.”

“Yeah. Now he wants to run. Great plan.”

“No, I want to protect the stone.”

Tony walks towards the expansive front view-port, showing a hyper-speed/warp effect. “And I want you to thank me now. Go ahead, I'm listening.”

“For what? Nearly blasting me into space?”

“Who just saved your magical ass? Me.”

“And us.” Peter quickly added. Tony just raised a hand to them and he stayed silent.

“I seriously don't know how you fit your head into that helmet.”

“Admit it. You should have ducked out when I told you to. I tried to bench you. You refused.”

“Unlike everyone else in your life, I don’t _work_ for you.”

Tony sighed. “And due to that fact, we’re now in a flying doughnut billions of miles away from Earth with no backup.”

“We’re back up!” Kris chirped with his hand raised.

“No. You’re a stowaway.” Tony waggled a finger between himself and Dr. Strange. “The adults are talking.”

“I’m sorry, I’m confused as to the relationship here. Wh—what are they, your _wards?_ ”

“No. I’m Peter, by the way. And this is Kris.” Peter answered. He pointed finger to Kris when he introduced him and using his other hand to offer a handshake.

Strange turned to them. “Dr. Strange.”

“Oh, we’re using our made-up names. Um… I am Spider-Man/Kid-Arachnid, then.”

“This ship is self-correcting its course. Thing’s on autopilot.”

Dr. Strange walked closer to Tony, standing beside him at the front of the ship. “Can we control it? Fly us home?” Tony seemed to be lost in bad memories and did not respond right away. “ _Stark?_ ”

“Yeah?”

“Can you get us home?”

“Yeah, I heard you. I’m thinking… I’m not so sure we should.”

Strange took a few steps toward him. “Under no circumstance can we bring the Time Stone to Thanos. I don’t think you quite _understand_ what’s at stake here.”

Tony stalks over to Strange. “No. It’s _you_ who doesn’t understand, that Thanos has been inside my head for _six years_ since he sent an army to New York and now he’s _back!_ And I don’t know what to do. So I’m not so sure if it’s a better plan to fight him on our turf or his but you _saw_ what they _did,_ what they can _do._ At least on his turf, he’s not expecting it. So I say we take the fight to _him. Doctor._ Do you _concur?_ ”

A beat passed and Dr. Strange spoke. “Alright, Stark. We go to him. But you have to _understand_ … if it comes to saving _you,_ or the _kids,_ or the _Time Stone_ … I will _not_ hesitate to let either of you die. I can’t, because the fate of the universe depends on it.”

“Nice. Good. Moral compass. We’re straight.” Tony patted Strange’s arm and sighed. Stepping over to Kris, he formally tapped each of Kris’ shoulders with the edge of his hand, dubbing him as is done at a knighting. “Alright, kid. You’re an Avenger now.” 

He didn’t look at him as he said those words, knowing well what he was signing him up for. He knew that Kris wanted to be an Avenger for the longest time, but he didn’t think he was ready yet. But because the fate of the universe depended on it, he was signed up earlier than Tony initially expected. 

Kris looked at Tony in disbelief and then looked at Peter with genuine joy in his eyes. Peter gave him a nod and thumbs up, congratulating him. Then Kris remembered what the Avengers usually go up to. Loki, Ultron, all those other characters. But he still couldn’t believe that he finally achieved what he wanted to be for the longest time since he got his spider powers… which was a year ago, but it still counted. His face went through a cycle of delight, satisfaction, pride, and determination, bracing himself for what’s to come.


	16. Infinity Wars Pt. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once the Guardians and the Avengers teamed up, they discussed their plan on Titan, knowing little of how differently the other group worked.

It had been a few hours. Kris, Peter, Tony, and Dr. Strange was aboard the ship, approaching the surface of an unknown planet. All Kris knew was that it was bright orange and looked desolate from the view they could see from the inside of the ship. “Hey, what's going on?” Kris asked. 

“I think we’re here,” Dr. Strange answered.

“I don't think this rig has a self-park function.” Tony turned to Peter. “Get your hand into this steering gimbal. Close those around it. You understand?”

“Got it.” Peter de-helmeted. 

“This was meant for one big guy, so we gotta move at the same time.”

“Okay. Okay. Ready,” Peter said.

The space doughnut was heading straight for the center of what looks like one of a colossal game of jacks. “We might wanna turn. Turn! Turn! _Turn!!!_ ”

Tony armored up as the space doughnut clipped the “jack” obliquely, but still losing a good third of its hull in the collision. Kris threw up his helmet at the same time, just as he had decided to re-helmet. (“Note to self: NEVER throw up in the mask.”) Doctor Strange stepped between them and created the Shield of the Seraphim around them all, anticipating a rough landing.

The ship, now reduced to about forty-five percent, plowed through the dirt and stopped, leaning slightly to one side. Doctor Strange helped Tony, now de-helmeted, to his feet; they were both panting a little from the exertion of arrival. “You alright?” Tony asked Strange. 

“That was a close one. I owe you one.” Tony patted Strange’s arm.

Peter and Kris descend from above in classic spider-like fashion. “Let me just say—if aliens wind up implanting eggs in my chest or something, and I eat one of you, I’m sorry.” They both said at the same time. They quickly exchange glances, smirked at each other, and fist bumped.

“I don’t wanna hear _another_ single pop culture out of you two for the rest of the trip. You understand?”

“We’re trying to say that…” Kris pointed to the exposed hole of the ship. “something is coming.” A grenade rolled into view, and Kris, Peter, Strange, and Tony got thrown well back when it fired its energy pulse. Star-Lord, Drax, and Mantis appeared in the doorway

“ _ **THANOS!!!**_ ” Drax yelled. He flung a blade at Doctor Strange, who neatly deflected it with a mystical shield, and in return sent the Cloak of Levitation at Drax’s face, half-smothering him and throwing him to the floor. Star-Lord and Tony had a brief dogfight until a magnetic disc pinned Tony face-first to a structure.

Kris, crawling backward frantically from an anxious-looking Mantis, screamed, “AH! _Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!_ PLEASE DON'T PUT YOUR EGGS IN ME!” Kris shot a couple of webs at Mantis in a panic, pinning her arms to her body just before Star-Lord flew at him feet-first, kicking him away.

“Stay down, clown!” Star-Lord said. Star-Lord couldn’t quite counter spider reflexes at first. Peter appeared out of nowhere and pulled his head into his shirt, lifting it and covering his head. (He learnt that from Flash.). He fired at Peter, who extended his spider legs and leapt away, but an electric-like cord wrapped around Peter and his four new legs when he tried to attack, sending him rolling across the deck.

Drax struggled with the Cloak of Levitation. “Die, blanket of death!”

Tony pulled free of the magnet; the Cloak pulled free of Drax as soon as Tony had a bead on his opponent and a foot on his torso. Star-Lord had Kris in a head-lock, gun pointed at the teen’s head. Doctor Strange had a mystical shield of golden energy up and stood ready at the third point of the triangle. Mantis had struggled to her feet behind Star-Lord, still covered with webbing. Peter stuck to a structure beside Dr. Strange, his hands ready to shoot more webs.

“Alright, everybody, stay where you are… chill the _eff_ out…” Star-Lord removed his mask. “I’m gonna ask you this one time. _Where’s_ Gamora?”

Tony de-helmeted himself, looking very much confused. “Yeah—I’ll do you one better. _Who’s_ Gamora?”

“I’ll do _you_ one better! _Why_ is Gamora?!” Drax added. Kris couldn’t help but snicker a bit at the comment, despite being held at gunpoint.

“Tell me where the girl is, or I swear to you, I’m gonna French-fry this little freak,” Star-Lord added, pressing the gun near Kris’ head.

“Let’s do it! You shoot my guy, I blast him. Let’s go!” Tony extended his nano-tech cannon, looking uncannily like an electric shark about to eat Drax's face.

“Do it, Quill! I can take it,” Drax said.

“No, he can't take it!” Mantis added.

“She’s right—you can’t,” Dr. Strange deadpanned.

“Oh yeah? You don’t wanna tell me where she is? That’s _fine._ I’ll kill all four of you and beat it out of Thanos myself.” Star-Lord turned to Kris. “Starting with _you._ ”

“Wait, what. _Thanos?_ ” Dr. Strange began speaking, in an attempt to inject clarity and sanity into the situation. “Alright, let me ask you this one time: What master do you serve?”

Quill tilted his head in confusion. “‘What master do I serve’? What am I supposed to say, _Jesus?_ ”

Tony started to get it a little bit. “ _You’re_ from Earth?”

Quill looked offended. “I’m not from _Earth._ I’m from _Missouri._ ”

“Yeah, that’s from _EARTH,_ dip-shit. What are you hassling us for?”

“So, you’re not with Thanos?” Peter asked, sounding a bit crushed. He was hoping they could get more information on the purple guy, so they’d know what they’re up against.

“ _WITH_ Thanos?!” Quill looked disgusted with Peter’s remark. “No, I’m here to kill Thanos! He took my girl—wai—who _are_ you?”

Kris de-helmeted himself. “We’re the _Avengers_ , man!”

“Oh.” Quill unwraps his arm around Kris and lowered his gun. 

“You're the ones Thor told us about!” Mantis commented.

“ _You_ know Thor?” Tony asked.

“Yeah. Tall guy, not that good-looking,” Kris and Peter gives him an incredulous look. They assumed he was just jealous of Thor, especially because of how he looked in the news with his long locks. “Needed saving.”

“Where is he now?” Strange asked.

~~~

The remaining Avengers and the Guardians started to work together. Quill was measuring the planet’s tilt. “The hell happened to this planet? It’s eight degrees off its axis. Gravitational pull is all over the place…” Quill commented.

In the background, Mantis was jumping joyfully in a low gravity spot. Kris and Peter tried to look around for areas with low gravity. “Yeah, we got one advantage. He’s coming to us. We’ll use it. All right, I have a plan. Or at least the beginnings of one. It’ pretty simple—we draw him in, pin him down, get what we need. Definitely don’t wanna dance with this guy. We just want the gauntlet.” Tony explained. Drax yawned. He turned to him. “Are you _yawning?_ In the middle of this, while I'm breaking it down? Huh? Did you hear what I said?”

Drax turned to Tony. “I stopped listening after you said, ‘We need a plan.’”

Tony turns to Quill. “Okay, Mr. Clean is on his own page.” Kris chuckled a little at the Mr. Clean remark.

“See, ‘ _not winging it_ ’ isn't really what they do,” Quill explained.

“Uh, what _exactly_ is it that they do?” Peter asked.

Mantis answered, as fierce as an 8-week-old kitten. “Kick names, take ass.”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Drax quietly agreed. He settled into a stance facing the remaining Avengers.

Tony paused, with a look of genuine hopelessness. Kris and Peter were just exchanging looks, weirded out by what Mantis had just said. “Alright, just get over here, please. Mr. Lord, can you get your folks to circle up?”

“Mr. Lord—Star-Lord is fine.” Quill looked behind Tony and gestured for Drax and Mantis to come towards the group discussion. Drax and Mantis followed.

“We gotta coalesce. ‘Cause if all we come at him with is a plucky attitude…”

“Dude, don't call us plucky. We don't know what it means. Alright, we're optimistic, yes. I like your plan. Except it sucks, so let me do the plan, because once I came up with twelve percent of a plan, and I saved a whole _plan_ -et! I figured thirty percent of a plan should be enough to save the universe!” Tony sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Peter followed the conversation back and forth like a squash rally. “Um, that’s some questionable math, Peter.”

“Shut up, Peter.”

“So what, you're going to tell him about the dance-off to save the universe?” Drax deadpanned, stancing, facing both Tony and Quill.

“What dance-off?” Kris asked, slightly curious.

“It’s not a… it’s not… it’s nothing,” Quill stuttered.

“Like in Footloose, the movie?” Peter asked.

“Exactly like Footloose!” Quill responded excitedly. “Is it still the greatest movie in history?”

“It never was.” Peter shrugged. Kris crouched and traced circles in the dirt of the planet, wondering when they could actually get to planning.

Quill frowned sadly at Peter, disappointed. “Don’t encourage this, alright?” Tony said.

“Okay,” Peter whispered.

“We're getting no help from Flash Gordon here,” Tony added.

“ _Flash_ Gordon? By the way, that’s a compliment. Don’t forget, I’m _half-human._ ” Quill pointed at Tony, Peter, and Kris, emphasizing his point. “So that fifty percent of me that's stupid? That’s a hundred percent _you._ ”

“Your math is blowing my mind,” Tony responded sarcastically.

“Excuse me, but... does your friend often _do_ that?” Mantis asked. The group turned to the direction Mantis looked at. Kris stood up, looking at Strange curiously.

Dr. Strange was sitting cross-legged, floating slightly above the ground, his hands poised in a mystic gesture with the Time Stone glowing brightly in the Eye of Agamotto setting. Green vapor-like energy flowed from the stone, and more intricate magical energy patterns circle Dr. Strange’s forearms. The Cloak of Levitation flowed behind him as if the Stone was creating a strong breeze. His eyes were closed, and his head was jerking rapidly from side to side, the motion blurring, but resembling looking for something.

“ _Strange!_ We alright?” Dr. Strange snaps out of his trance and falls forward, letting out a cry. Tony stepped forth and crouched in front of Strange. “You’re back. You’re alright.”

“Hey—what _was_ that?” Kris asked. Peter shrugged.

“I went forward in time… to view alternate futures… To see all the possible outcomes of the coming conflict…” Dr. Strange explained, panting heavily.

Quill tilted his head curiously. “How many did you see?”

“Fourteen million, six-hundred and five.”

Tony paused, then looked at Strange. “How many did we win?”

Strange stared intently at Tony for a moment. 

“ _One._ ”


	17. Infinity Wars Pt. 4 / The Decimation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once they had devised a plan to stop Thanos, knowing little about how powerful he _really_ was.

Thanos finally arrived, finding only fresh debris from Ebony Maw’s ship. His very presence was intimidating even Kris, who was watching from afar, high above in one of the towering structures.

Strange was sitting on what may have been plaza steps once. “Oh, yeah, you’re much more of a ‘Thanos’.”

“I take it that Maw is dead. This day extracts a heavy toll. Still, he accomplished his mission,” Thanos boomed. His voice was loud and deep. Strange nodded silently.

“You may regret that. He brought you face-to-face with the Master of the Mystic Arts.” Strange responded.

“And where do you think he brought you?” Star-Lord crouched behind wreckage with his weapon ready, behind Thanos and to his left; Spider-Man and Kid-Arachnid peeked from above and behind Doctor Strange, observing the conversation.

“Let me guess—your _home?_ ” Strange asked, his face not looking away from Thanos, but his eyes were. 

“It was. And it was beautiful.” Thanos smiled reminiscently. Thanos curled his gauntleted fist and activated the Reality Stone to show Strange Titan before it was destroyed—green lawns, intact buildings, water-filled ponds, strolling citizens, the jack-like structures hovering and connected to the ground-based buildings with beams of energy. “Titan was like most planets. Too many mouths, and not enough to go around. And when we faced extinction, I offered a solution.”

“ _Genocide,_ ” Strange muttered, raising both his eyebrows. Thanos nodded solemnly. 

“But at random, dispassionate, fair to rich and poor alike… They called me a madman. And what I predicted came to pass.” He relaxed his fist; the red Reality Stone stopped glowing and the illusion faded back into the true state of Titan.

“Congratulations. You’re a prophet,” Strange responded sarcastically.

“I’m a _survivor,_ ” Thanos shot back.

“Who wants to murder _trillions,_ ” Strange added.

“With all six stones, I could simply snap my fingers, and they would all cease to exist. I call that… mercy.” Thanos snapped his fingers with the empty hand.

Strange then stood up, taking a few steps toward Thanos. “And then what?”

“I finally rest… and watch the sun rise on a grateful universe. The hardest choices require the strongest wills.” Thanos looked down, as if he was mourning.

Strange summoned his Mandalas, entering a fighting pose. “I think… you’ll find… our will... equal to _yours._ ”

“ _Ours?_ ” He looked up to see a chunk of wreckage descending rapidly on him, too rapidly to react—and powered by Iron Man. He was subsequently crushed by it.

“Piece of cake, Quill,” Tony said.

“Yeah, if your goal is to piss him off!” Quill added as he triggered his mask and followed.

The wreckage on top of Thanos erupts in a purple glow, as he bellows in rage. He turned the hovering fragments into a flock of bats with the Reality Stone and swarmed Tony with them, driving him back through the ruins. Peter webbed his eyes, and Kris swung in to kick him in the face at the same time that Drax leapt from cover, blades in both hands, to knee-slide behind Thanos and tried for a tendon slide across the back of the Titan’s knee.

Dr. Strange jumped through a portal and summoned a sword of golden energy, dueling with Thanos while Drax attacked similarly on his other side. Thanos punched Drax through a ruined wall, then shattered the blade with one hand and tore the web from his eyes. He advanced on Dr. Strange and kicked at him, but Strange’s shield absorbed the damage—the Cloak lifts him free of the ground.

Star-Lord had been making his way back on the ground and shot Thanos from behind. Thanos used the Power Stone to shoot balls of energy at Star-Lord while Star-Lord leapt towards Thanos using magical platforms thrown in his path by Doctor Strange, the last one placed above Thanos’ head so Star-Lord can flip over him and slap a mine on his back. Star-Lord stuck his landing, as he disengaged his helmet, flipped Thanos off. “Boom!” And fell backward into a portal.

The explosion knocked Thanos to his knees and dazed him briefly.

Strange whispered to the cloak, “Do not let him close his fist.” The Cloak swooped off Dr. Strange’s shoulders and wrapped itself tightly around Thanos’ armored hand, who started tugging at this unexpected wrapping. Dr. Strange started throwing portals everywhere. Peter leapt through one on Thanos’ left.

“Magic!” Peter shouted as he punched Thanos in the head and vanished through a portal to the lower right before reappearing above Thanos.

“More magic!” Kris adds, as he yanked Thanos' head down hard, then leapt into a portal in front of him. 

“Magic with a kick!” Peter added as he leapt through another portal, high and behind Thanos and delivered a flying kick and fell feet-first into an exit, then Kris appeared on his right.

“Magic with a—” Before Kris could finish, Thanos turned, grabbing him from the air, and throwing him to the ground, with his hand around his neck.

“ _Insect!_ ” 

“Uh, actually, it’s Arach—”He then threw Kris at Doctor Strange, knocking them both down. Thanos finally tore the Cloak away and was then promptly surrounded by fiery explosions as Tony bombarded him. He sucked all the flame into the gauntlet with the Power Stone and fired it in a stream at Iron Man, hitting him dead on and sending him far away, plowing through a massive fallen machine.

Peter leapt from behind, more conventionally this time, while Thanos concentrated his fire on Tony, webbing the gauntlet and dropped down in front of him, pulling hard—but Thanos yanked on the web, pulling the much lighter young adult toward him, and punching him on his way past. He tore the webbing free of the gauntlet just in time for a small spaceship to attempt to crash-land on him.

The ship dragged Thanos along for a distance, burying him under debris. He stood just as the pilot leapt in a great arc to punch him, landing in front of him with an energy-blade at the ready. “Well, well…”

“You should have killed me,” Nebula said.

“Would have been a waste of _parts!_ ”

She ran at Thanos, attacking him with her sword. “ _Where’s_ Gamora?!”

Thanos punched her away. Dr. Strange used the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak to pinion the gauntlet, pulling Thanos’ fingers open and trying to pry the gauntlet off his hand. Thanos tried to pull free, as Drax slid in from his right, kicking his knee and knocked him off-balance, then wrapped himself around Thanos’ kneeling leg. Star-Lord shot an electric trap onto the ground to Thanos' right, the tangle-field holding down his unarmored hand.

Kris and Peter swung in, webbing Thanos’ chest then wrapped it around behind him, digging their Iron Spider legs into the ground to anchor themselves. Dr. Strange opened a portal straight above Thanos, out of which dropped Mantis, landing on the Titan’s shoulders, her hands on his temples. He bellowed as she tried to put him under. Kris was confident they won.

Tony, having returned, pulled on the gauntlet. Dr. Strange reapplied the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak to reinforce the trap’s hold on Thanos’ right hand, and the Cloak helped him pull. Thanos was finally subdued enough to incapacitate, but not fully asleep. Tony continued to pull “Is he under? Don't let up.” 

Mantis was starting to cry. “Be quick. He is very strong.”

“Parker, Echarri, help! Get over here.” Kris and Peter dropped their webs and hurried to help Tony with the gauntlet, grunting as they struggled to pull the gauntlet free from his hand. It was a lot tighter than Kris had initially expected—he even thought of using butter, if they even had any on the planet. “She can't hold him much longer. Let's go.”

Star-Lord flew over and joined the others, standing in front of Thanos, tauntingly. “I thought you’d be harder to catch. For the record, this was my plan. Not so strong now, huh? Where is Gamora?”

“ _My… Gamora…?_ ”

Quill looked at Thanos dead in the eye. “No, bull _shit._ Where is she?”

“He is in anguish,” Mantis said, shocked.

Quill looked at Mantis, then back to Thanos. “ _Good._ ”

“He… he… _mourns._ ”

“What does this monster have to _mourn?!_ ” Drax yelled as he struggled to keep Thanos subdued.

“Gamora…” Nebula whispered.

Quill slowly turned to Nebula in disbelief. “What?”

Nebula realized with horror and sadness what had happened, but she managed to stay composed on the outside. “He took her to Vormir. He came back with the Soul Stone… _but she didn’t._ ”

Tony frapped the danger immediately and de-helmeted and tried to calm down Star-Lord. “Okay, Quill, you gotta cool it right now, you understand?” Quill slowly turned to Thanos, rage slowly bubbling up inside him. "Don’t, don’t, don’t engage, we've almost _got this off!_ "

“Tell me she's lying,” The rage inside him bubbled up violently. It was practically boiling inside him. It’s funny-—when Drax kept going after Thanos, Quill was always the one to calm him down. But now that he understood how Drax always felt, he felt like he couldn’t stop himself. He was overwhelmed with emotion. “ _ASSHOLE!_ Tell me you _didn’t do it!_ ”

“ _I… had… to…_ ” Thanos drawled.

Quill started to tear up slowly. He shook his head slowly. He quietly said, “No, you didn’t…! No, you didn’t…!” He continued to rage and then pistol-whipped Thanos twice in the face, causing Mantis to let go in pain, screaming at Thanos’ face. “ _NO, YOU DIDN’T!_ ”

“ _Quill!_ ” Tony and Drax both shouted. Tony leapt for Star-Lord's arm, re-helmeting and leaving Kris and Peter to pull off the gauntlet themselves. “Hey, stop! Hey, stop! Stop! Hey, stop! Stop!” Tony shouted.

“It’s going out! It’s going out! It’s going out!” Kris shouted. The fingers were completely loose. All that was left was the wrist area that they had to pull free. “We got it! We got it...!”

Thanos woke up completely, now well and truly furious. He head-butted Mantis, grabbing the cuff of the gauntlet just as it was sliding off his hand, causing Kris and Peter to stumble back, and then he threw Mantis away off his shoulders.

Peter saw Mantis with far too much air under her. “Oh, God!” He jumped and wrapped his arms and legs around her, extending his spider legs to form a roll cage for a safe landing.

Thanos kicked Drax off his right leg and into Nebula and Star-Lord, knocking them down. He yanked on the Crimson Bands holding his right hand to throw Dr. Strange far away and swatted away Tony and his repulsor shots. The remaining Guardians jumped up and charge him again, but he fired a pulse of indigo energy at them that knocked the three of them completely unconscious.

Tony zoomed back in, his nanite arm cannon manifested, and was head-butted to the ground. Thanos looked at him for a beat, then raised the gauntlet towards Titan’s moon. Iron Man stared, aghast. Thanos used a combination of the Power and Space Stones to shatter the moon’s surface, then bring the debris down on the field of battle at breakneck speed. Tony powered out of the way but was caught by chunks of moon about the size of a baseball field, slamming him into the ground. The Guardians go sailing into the air from the rebound.

~~~

The remaining Guardians and Avengers were dealing with the gravitic aftermath of dumping a large chunk of moon onto an unstable planet’s surface. The unconscious Guardians were flying upwards uncontrollably, moon-chunks were still making fiery ballistic in-bounds, and random debris and massive rocks were floating in any possible direction. Kris was well-equipped to handle this physically, even if he was indeed freaking out emotionally. He webbed Mantis. 

“I got you! I got you!” He snagged Drax out from the air, securing both of them to something that wasn’t moving. He used his Iron Spider legs to crawl for him as he moved towards Star-Lord and webbed him. “Sorry, I can’t remember anybody's names!” He said as he reels in Star-Lord.

The Cloak of Levitation set Dr. Strange down on a relatively stable outcrop as Thanos extricated himself from rubble. The Sorcerer Supreme made a few passes with his hands, producing the familiar golden magic filigree circles, and slammed his hands down on the rock before him, invoking the Seven Suns of Cinnibus as a lightning-like effect of immense heat jumping from rock to rock until it reached Thanos, sending him flying—but he made use of the erratic gravity to keep control and fire back a blast from the Power Stone.

Dr. Strange blocked the purple plume with a wall of Mirror Dimension, which he then pushed back at Thanos. It shattered around the Titan, who suctioned the magic into a miniature black hole with the Space Stone, volleying it back at Dr. Strange. Just in time, Dr. Strange raised a shield and changed the dark energy into a swarm of aqua butterflies that returned to their master. Thanos looked at the butterflies, then back at Strange.

Before he can counterattack again, Dr. Strange levitated and invoked the Images of Ikonn, giving him arms like a Hindu deity before dozens of Strange replications rushed away, forming a circular wall around a snarling Thanos. They all casted magical cords, wrapping around Thanos’ torso, arms and hands; he struggled to close his gauntleted fist and used the Soul and Power Stones to discover the real Dr. Strange among the many copies, blowing the duplicates away and sending the singular Dr. Strange reeling. Reality and Space pulled Doctor Strange forward, Thanos grasped him by the throat once in range. Dr. Strange grabbed futilely at Thanos' hand. “You're full of tricks, wizard.”

“ _No!_ ” Strange shouted as Thanos reached for the Eye of Agamotto, snapping the Eye off its chain.

“Yet you never once used your greatest weapon.” He crushed it in his bare hand “A _fake._ ” He threw Doctor Strange hard enough that Doctor Strange’s head hit stone and he passed out.

Almost simultaneously, a red and gold device slapped itself into the palm of the Infinity Gauntlet, bracing the fingers open; and a red and gold Avenger made a fast and hard entrance. “You throw another moon at me, and I’m gonna _lose_ it.”

“ _Stark…_ ”

“You know me?” Tony trained his eyes straight into Thanos’. Thanos returned the gaze.

“I _do._ You’re not the only one _cursed_ with knowledge.”

Tony scoffed. “My only curse is _you._ ” Small rockets popped out of Iron Man’s back and launched at Thanos.

“Come on!”

The rockets all exploded on target, momentarily shrouding Thanos in smoke. Before it cleared, Iron Man pile drove into Thanos horizontally, using his single super-jet boot configuration. As he bounced off, he flips and stuck his landing, immediately re-configuring his boots into ground clamps for stability and braces, as he transformed his gloves into rocket-driven battering rams, punching Thanos into a ruined wall behind him.

Thanos shook it off quickly, reached forward and tore Iron Man’s helmet off, revealing Tony’s surprised expression before the suit recovered automatically and reformed his head protection. The Titan made use of the fractional delay and punched back hard, sending Iron Man sliding meters away, giving Thanos time to rip the brace device off the gauntlet. He immediately used the Power Stone to stream furiously lambent energy at his opponent, who formed a shield to kneel behind just as instantly, getting pushed back even further by the incredible force.

Iron Man slid out from behind the shield, letting the angled energy push him away for a faster start, and whipped back to Thanos full thrusters; he kicked at the Titan with his left foot, turning the boot into a ground clamp at the same time to pin the gauntlet, and kept twisting while his left glove became a ram again, slamming into Thanos’ face, cutting his cheek.

Thanos panted lightly before he swiped a finger on his cheek. Purple blood stained his finger. “ _All that for a drop of blood._ ”

He smiled briefly and punched Iron Man, sending him pinwheeling, then started beating him with his fists. Iron Man attempted to block the blows with his forearms, but Thanos was relentless, picking him up by the helmet and blasted his midsection with the Power Stone. The gaps in nanite coverage were now gaping, as the armor lost the ability to recover from the intensity and extent of the damage. Iron Man landed hard from the Power blast, struggled to one knee, and fired his right-hand repulsor at the inexorable Thanos; the beam was easily deflected by the gauntlet. He got to both feet as the suit tried to complete repairs, adding the beam from his left hand as well.

Thanos advanced right up to him and backhanded the incomplete helmet completely off Tony’s head. He crossed his arms to block a blow from Thanos’ gauntlet and had his left hand caught over his head. In desperation, he formed what’s left of his right glove into a short-sword, which was also easily caught by Thanos, snapping it off clean and driving it through Tony’s left side. The fight was over. They lost.

Thanos walked Tony back until he sat, and placed the gauntlet almost comfortingly on Tony’s head. Tony panted heavily. “You have my respect, Stark. When I’m done, half of humanity will still be alive.” He stepped back and straightened himself, looking down on Tony like he was some sort of being of higher power. “I hope they remember you.”

Tony was just a little distracted with the pain, and blood drooled out of his mouth and compromised breathing. Thanos raised the gauntlet, closing his fist, all four Stones glowing.

“ _Stop!_ ” Thanos turned around. It’s Strange, sitting up and sounding entirely damaged. Tony turned to Strange, questioning his decision silently. “Spare his life… and I will give you the stone.”

“No tricks.” Doctor Strange shook his head as Thanos pointed all four Stones at him instead.

“ _Don’t…!_ ” Tony weakly shouted.

Doctor Strange reached up and plucked the Time Stone out of its hiding place in the stars. He opened his hand, the scars on his fingers and their inherent trembling particularly obvious now, and the Stone floated to Thanos’ bare hand. Doctor Strange watched him intently, as he took the Stone and dropped it into the thumb setting. The energy pulsed through him, making the Titan wince. “One to go.” 

An energy blast hit the gauntlet right in the empty Mind Stone setting, and Thanos grimaced in surprise. Quill, screamed in incoherent rage, helmet up, firing with both hands and flying straight for Thanos. Thanos didn’t even bother responding to the assault—he just left. Star-Lord flew through where Thanos had been and crashed, rolling several times.  
Quill stood up and de-helmets. “ _Where is he?!_ ”

Tony stitched up his stab wound as well as he can with his suit functions; he has no breath for answers. Kris peered from the structure he leaned on, clutching his shoulder. “Did we just _lose?_ ” 

“Why would you do that?” Tony asked Strange.

Strange looked at Tony with solemn eyes. He saw the future. If anything—any _little_ thing is screwed over, everything goes downhill. It’s all in everyone else’s hands. The only gamble he had to take was to hope everything went well, and according to the future he saw. 

“ _We’re in the Endgame now._ ”

~~~

The wind picked up in Wakanda. It felt… strange. Eerie. “Everyone, on my position. We have incoming.” Steve ordered. He was joined by the Black Widow, Falcon, Okoye, and the Black Panther in short order.

“What the hell?”

Bruce saw the blueish-black clouds of a Space Stone relocation just before Thanos stepped forward, and confirmed this wasn’t just another member of the Black Order. Bruce sighed deeply, knowing they were in for a long fight. “Cap. That's him.”

“Eyes up. Stay sharp.” Steve said. He expanded his shield and jogged toward Thanos.

Bruce reached Thanos first, lunging forward fist-first—but Thanos used the Space Stone on him, rendering him immaterial until the Hulkbuster was half-buried in the stone of the cliff behind him, and froze Bruce in place.

Captain America was sent flying by purple energy before he even got to strike a single blow.  
The Black Panther, armor fully charged kinetically, leapt high and with claws extended, but was easily grabbed by the throat and punched to the ground, his armor discharging violently.  
Falcon stooped, strafing with both Steyr pistols, but was felled when his wings became rubbery and unable to sustain flight.

“They can’t stop him, Wanda, but we can. Look at me. You have the power to destroy the stone.” Vision said, tugging at Wanda’s hand. 

“ _Don’t._ ”

“You must do it. Wanda, please. We. Are. Out of time.” He placed her hand on his cheek.

“I _can’t._ ”

“Yes, you can. You can. If he gets the stone, half the universe dies.” Vision removed her hand from his cheek and held it with both hands.

“It’s not fair. It shouldn’t be you, but it is. It’s all right. You could never hurt me. I just… feel _you._ ” With a heavy heart, the Scarlet Witch extended a trembling hand and started beaming her energy at the Mind Stone. Her heart burnt as she did so, like the energy pained both of them at the same time.

The following action felt muted to Wanda. It was as if all of her senses, except for her sight and touch, were temporarily gone to focus all of it onto destroying the very source of her powers. War Machine joined the fight, firing his guns at Thanos until he used the gauntlet to crush his armor around him and toss him aside. The Winter Soldier ran in, firing and was punched away by the Power Stone. Okoye activated the Vibranium-powered elements on her spear and flung it; the Power Stone stopped it, inches from Thanos and threw her and the spear aside while wrapping the Black Widow in inescapable bands of earth. It was all too easy for him. 

Groot stabbed his hands into the ground to wrap Thanos in cables of roots, which he broke easily. The Scarlet Witch watched all this over one shoulder and turned back to Vision to add her left hand to her tearful effort. Her heart burnt for her soon-to-be-dead lover.

Captain America slid under one blow and came up, swinging his deployed arm-shields, punching Thanos in the gut and chin. He grabbed the gauntlet, keeping Thanos’ fingers un-clenched. Thanos looked very briefly impressed at Captain America’s efforts as he screamed, stopping him from using the gauntlet to buy Wanda and Vision more time. It wasn’t long before Thanos slammed a fist into his head, rendering him insensible.

The Scarlet Witch looked over her shoulder again and saw Thanos approaching, unopposed. She swung her left hand around to fend him off with a stream of scarlet energy and pushed him back, despite his blueish-purple energy shield, but then he started to make slow headway.

"It’s alright. It’s all right.” Vision whispered. Wanda shut her eyes, not wanting to see him die at her hands. But she knew it was for the greater good of the universe, deep down. “ _I love you._ ”

At those words, the yellow Mind Stone finally started to crack. Vision’s face was overcome by an expression of joyful peace, and as the crystal fragments completely, a pulse of pure yellow energy explodes from him, shuddering the trees for many meters around his epicenter. Wanda’s and Thanos’ energy subsided. 

“I understand, my child. Better than anyone.” Thanos walks over to Wanda. Wanda looked up to gaze upon the Mad Titan. 

“You could _never…_ ”

Thanos reached down to presume to stroke her hair, as if in comfort. “Today, I lost more than you can know. But now is no time to mourn.” Thanos glanced at his Infinity Gauntlet. He straightened himself and took a few steps forward. “Now... is _no time at all._ ” He reached forward, clenching the gauntlet, emerald filigree surrounding his wrist, making a gesture very similar to that of how Doctor Strange made when activating the Eye of Agamotto. In response, a bead of yellow light started gathering in on itself as time was reversed and growing in size, solidifying into an intact and conscious Vision

“ _NO!_ ” Wanda screamed as she lunged for Vision but she was immediately swatted away.

Thanos picked up Vision by the throat, lifting him to eye-level, and dug the fingers of his right hand into Vision’s forehead, digging out the Mind Stone. He pulled it loose, and Vision went limp and colorless; he tossed the lifeless android aside like trash. Bringing his gauntleted hand up, he slowly moved the Mind Stone over the last empty setting and dropped it in. The energy surge was much more than any previous—his torso was wreathed with iridescent static and he bellowed from the sensations.

As Thanos studied the completed gauntlet, a massive bolt of lightning struck him, digging him into the ground and grinding him back for a few meters. Thor had arrived, eyes glowing with power, stooping down from the sky like a bird of prey. The God of Thunder paused his attack, reversed his position, raising Stormbreaker above his head, and hurled it—Thanos fired the whole might of the gauntlet against it, but it only created a rainbow-like bow-shock, not slowing the ax as it slams right into Thanos’ chest.

“I _told_ you. _You’d die for that._ ” He took hold of the back of Thanos' head and forced Stormbreaker deeper into his chest, staring angrily into his eyes while Thanos cried out in pain. Thor was confident they won. 

Thanos was too weak—he could barely say anything but a mere whisper. “You should have… you…” Thanos finally mustered the strength to say it.

“ _You should have gone for the head._ ” He raises his gauntlet and snaps his fingers.

“ _ **NO!**_ ”

~~~

Thanos was snapped back to normal reality, and noticed the damage inflicted on the gauntlet—the metal scorched and distorted from heat, the stones no longer glowing.

“What’d you do?" Thor asked, looking into Thanos’ eyes. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!”

Thanos nearly seemed to not notice Thor before he used the Space Stone and teleported away, leaving Stormbreaker behind on Wakandan ground. Captain America staggered into the area, clutching his side, looking around for Thanos. “Where’d he go? Thor… _where’d he go?_ ”

Thor didn’t say anything. He breathed heavily as he stared into Captain America’s eyes.

“ _Steve...?_ ”

Bucky suddenly stumbled over, dropped his gun, and collapsed into ashes, much to Steve’s shock; he walked over and touched the ground where Bucky’s ashes evaporated disbelievingly.

~~~

On the battlefield, Wakandan soldiers disintegrate to ashes, much to M’Baku’s horror. All he could do was watch.

~~~

Black Panther, while reaching for a fallen Okoye, said, “Up, General. Up! This is no place to die…” King T'Challa held out his hand for Okoye. He suddenly disintegrated into ashes and, in anguish, Okoye fell back on the ground. A few seconds later, she got up herself.

“ _Kumkani?!_ ”

Groot slowly corrodes into ashes as well, beside Rocket. “I am Groot…”

In the distance, Okoye mourned over the loss of her king. “ _Kumkani?!_ ”

Rocket reached for Groot, but he faded away before he could reach him. “No… no. No. No. No! Groot, no…”

Wanda was mourning over Vision. She then turns into ashes. She seemed to be the only one to accept it. An injured Sam turned to ashes, hidden in the undergrowth.

“ _Sam?_ ” Rhodey called out, only from a few feet from where Sam had dusted. “Sam, where you at?!”

~~~

On Titan, the remaining members of the Guardians and Avengers collect themselves—Mantis propped up Star-Lord, Kris and Peter help Tony to his feet, Drax and Nebula managed to limp over on their own. “Something’s happening…” Mantis pointed out before disintegrating.

Quill turned around to see Drax disintegrate as well. “ _Quill…?_ ”

Tony stood up and looked at Quill. “Steady, Quill.” 

“Oh, man,” Quill whispered before he dusted away.

“Tony.” Tony turned around to Strange. “ _There was no other way._ ”

Peter felt something. Something off. He could tell because of his spider-senses, but something really isn’t right at all. Not one bit. A sudden rush of wind blasted through his fingers. He looked at it—his hands were fading. Inside, not even his usual human anatomy showed. Instead, it was just a black void. Devoid of all space and/or matter. Just emptiness. He ran to Tony and hugged him, gripping tightly like he’d die if he let go. “I don’t wanna go, Tony…”

“You’re gonna be fine, Kid. You’re gonna be fine. Just stay with me, Parker.” Tony was the one who gripped the hardest. He didn’t want Peter to go. He’s grown too attached to him. It stung. “Parker, Parker, don’t you leave us, don’t you _dare_ …”

Peter let go. He ran towards Kris, but before he reached him, he disappeared. Kris stood there, motionless. He was in complete shock over what had just happened in front of his eyes. “ _Peter…_ ” 

Something hit Kris next. It was a sharp needle kind of pain. Like as if he had been pierced with a very long and sharp needle. It was hard to describe—but for all he knew, it was painful as hell itself. He looked at his foot. He could see little black specks of dust appearing and floating up to his face.

“Mr. Stark?” He called out. He limped towards the man in question, as more of himself faded away slowly. 

“Oh, god, not _you,_ too…” Tony shook his head slowly, denying all of this. 

“I don’t—I don’t know what’s happening…” he fell into Tony’s arms and gripped tightly, as if he himself was the one to stop him from leaving. 

“You’re alright, you’re alright—shh. No, no, no no,” Tony spoke. “Look—look, Kid, you did everything just right.”

Kris fully lost his legs,and the both of them fell forward. 

“ _I’m sorry._ ”

Tony falls forward from the lack of weight in his arms, before staring at his hands in disbelief. _How was he going to explain it to his cousins?_ To Peter’s Aunt May? Oh god—he couldn’t even think straight. Two kids that were _practically_ his children were gone. And he couldn’t do _anything_ to stop it.

“He did it.” Nebula quietly said.

Stark mourned silently at their failure.

~~~

Back on Wakanda, the remaining team members, Captain America, Thor, War Machine, Black Widow, Bruce Banner, and Rocket were left mourning near Vision’s dead body. Captain America turned over Vision’s bleached corpse as Black Widow ran up to her fellow survivors.

“What is this? What the hell is happening?” Rhodey asked.

“ _Oh, god._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, before you (most likely) flame me about Peter's death and mine, I just wanna say a few things. Peter's a brave boy, and for him to lose all that bravery for him to repeatedly say "I don't wanna go", just didn't make sense to me. In the movie, it's understandable. He's like seventeen. Here, he's twenty-five years old. So I changed it up and made it somewhat like how the creators of Doctor Who talked about the Tenth Doctor's Regeneration. Hope you enjoyed it, though, and have a good one!


	18. End of a Journey That Started in a Cave / Frozen Out of Time, Living Colder Than A Grave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five years later. 2023. It has been a while—and now, the final battle between the Avengers and Thanos occurred.

Then a flash of light came and decimation reigned. One half of everything they loved crumbling away. All their _souls_ ripped from _reality_. _Time,_ and their _minds,_ drained. Vanished into _space,_ no _power,_ but horror at the display. 

Then the world turned upside down, asking ‘Who the hell’s to blame, man?’ The Guardians and the Avengers couldn’t save the day. Damn. Hang tight to your loved ones, because this is the Endgame. Get a shot set and take your aim.

~~~

There was only ashes in the streets. They thought that Thor could turn the tide. Instead of crowds cheering their heroes, it was just dust and a hole left inside. Death doesn’t discriminate between the sinners and the saints. It takes, and it takes, and it takes. Infinity disintegrated every family they made. A click, that was all that it takes. And for some reason… he didn’t know _why,_ but he’s the only man not to die when he was the one to blame for it. 

_He’s got no one else to blame for it._

~~~

Thor walked down the street with immense amounts of guilt. Not just over the Asgardians—but the fact that he single-handedly caused the entire Decimation. Millions— _Trillions_ of voices filled his head. Accusing him of failing the _whole universe._ He had Stormbreaker in his hands. He had control. But he let his pride get the better of him and aimed for the chest. The _very_ thing that kept Thanos alive long enough to snap.

Thanos must be held to answer for his crime, but… what more could he lose…?

Loki’s last words to him rang through his head. “ _I assure you, brother. The sun will shine on us again._ ” He lied, but he tried as he died. 

Then he also remembered his last words to Loki. It stung him. Painfully.“ _You really are the worst brother._ ” haunting him and taunting as it echoed through all time. 

As half of Asgard was burnt away, he swore upon his shame that no more would pay for it. If there was a reason tyrants survived, when his people have died, then he’ll make _sure_ he’ll feel the pain for it. 

_And by Asgard, he’ll pay for it._

~~~

The next thing Kris saw was a blinding, white light. His body was taking shape. He’s back on Titan. “Whoah, what the H-E-Double-Muffin was that?” He gasped. And it may have been himself that he coughed out, because when he coughed, little black specks shot out of his mouth.

He noticed that Tony and the blue person weren't there. He has got to remember everybody else’s names for better communication. It felt like a mere millisecond, but during that millisecond, Tony randomly disappeared without a trace. Peter stood up, looking around. “How long’s it been?”

“It’s been five years. They need us.” Doctor Strange said. Right after everyone came back, he already stood, waiting for the other members to recollect themselves. He started waving his arm around and an orange-yellow portal appeared. “Oh, and everyone. Gather the most amount of people you can. They’ll need it.”

~~~

The Big Three walked over to confront Thanos face to face.

“You could not live with your own failure. And where did that bring you? Back to me. I thought by eliminating half of life, the other half would thrive. But you’ve shown me that’s impossible. And as long as there are those that remember what was, there will always be those that are unable to accept what can be. They will resist,” Thanos spoke. The Big Three slowly walk around Thanos, surrounding him from the front. 

“Yep. We’re all kinds of stubborn,” Tony responded sarcastically.

“I’m thankful. Because now, I know what I must do.” He stood up. “I will shred this universe down to its last atom.” Thanos put on his helmet, pulling his sword from the ground. “And then—With the stones, you’ve collected for me, create a new one. Teeming with life, but knows not what it has lost but only what it has been given.” Thor lit himself up, ready to strike. “A grateful universe.”

“Born out of blood,” Steve muttered.

“They’ll never know it. _Because you won’t be alive to tell them_ ”

The fighting started. Thor roared, and Tony, with his blade, slashed it at Thanos. Thanos parried both his blade, and Steve’s shield. He dodged Thor’s efforts at landing a hit on him and smacked Steve away. Tony flew up and shot a beam at him, but missed. He shot another one again, and Thanos deflected it. The laser split up into at least five different beams.

~~~

Meanwhile, Hulk wasunder all of the mess trying to hold up the structure. Rhodey and Rocket were breathing for their lives.

“See you on the other side, man,” Rhodey said, lifting his head to try to get as much oxygen he could before having his head submerged in the water. Rocket was whimpering.

“Hang on! I’m coming!” Scott shouted. He rode a piece of metal and jumped over a pencil, diving into the water.

~~~

Hawkeye was running with the Infinity Gauntlet. More Outriders came at him from the sides, so he grabbed explosives from his arrow and jabbed them at the top, right, and left sides. If it didn’t kill them, it could at least slow them down. The explosive arrows detonated and he was blown away. He turned to look at the tunnel. The Outriders were still alive, and were on fire. He grappled the top and ascended to the top, dodging more of the Outriders as they tried to climb up to him, ready to either take the gauntlet, or just severely injure him. Either way, he didn’t like both options. When he reached the top, he was prepared for another Outrider to come at him, only for the last Outrider he sliced in half to drop down. He rolled over to his back, panting heavily. He dropped his blade. Nebula came into view and he looked at her. “Oh, hey—I know you.”

Clint gave her the gauntlet. Then she put her hand on her earpiece “Father.” Clint gasps. “I have the stones.”

“ _What?_ ” Clint tried to get up but Nebula (2014) stepped her foot down on him and pointed her gun at him.

“Stop.” Gamora came around the corner, her gun trained at Nebula (2014).

“You’re betraying us?”

With her hands up, Nebula joined Gamora. Nebula (2014) swiftly pointed her gun at her future self. “You don’t have to do this.” Nebula said.

Nebula (2014) shook her head. “I _am_ this.”

“No, you’re not.” 

“You've seen what we become.” Nebula tapped her temple.

“Nebula, listen to her.”

“You can change.”

“ _He won’t let me._ ” Nebula (2014) pointed a gun at Gamora.

“ _NO!_ ” Present Nebula shot her past self. Nebula (2014) dropped down into a sitting position. A tear fell out of her eye. Nebula silently stared at her past self, as if to say she let go of her past. Hawkeye picked up the Infinity Gauntlet.

~~~

The 3 heroes continued to battle Thanos.

“Okay, Thor. Hit me.”

Thor banged his hammer and ax together, in which combined his lightning. Tony’s suit sucked up the energy and he shot it out using his hands and his body. Thanos twirled his blade really fast to divert the energy.(Haha ThanosCopter reference) Thor grabbed Stormbreaker and used it to bat Mjölnir to hit Thanos. Thanos used Tony as a shield, resulting in damage to his system.

“ _Boss, wake up!_ ” FRIDAY shouted.

Steve tried to attack Thanos but was easily shielded away by the Mad Titan. Thor’s attack on Thanos was blocked by his sword. Thor was beaten and choked by Thanos, as he punched him. Mjolnir was flicked away as Thanos relentlessly beat up Thor, throwing him into a tree and socking him before throwing him over rubble and socking him again. Thor tried to grab Stormbreaker but Thanos grabbed it first and used it against Thor as he tried to defend himself. Mjolnir started to float off the ground while Thanos was digging the ax into Thor, when suddenly, Mjolnir flew into Thanos, zoomed past, stopped, and flew back. Both Thanos and Thor looked on in amazement as Steve picked up the hammer. Steve readied himself in a stance.

“ _I knew it!_ ” Thor exclaimed.

Thanos kicked Thor to the ground and proceeded to battle Steve dual-wielding both his shield and Mjolnir. Steve proceeded to charge at Thanos, swinging Mjolnir and hitting Thanos in the face, knocking him down. Steve threw his shield and Thanos deflected. Steve threw Mjolnir to his shield, creating a shockwave and knocking Thanos off his feet. Steve went on the offensive on Thanos, throwing his shield first at Thanos and quickly hitting it back at him again with Mjolnir. He lined his arm back up and under armed a channel of lightning on Thanos.

Thanos eventually got the upper hand, he removed his helmet, stabbed Steve on the leg and knocked Mjolnir out of his hand. Thanos proceeded to destroy Steve’s shield with his double-bladed sword and threw him across the battlefield.

Steve staggered to get up—he could barely stand up. His body ached, but he knew he had to do it. He _had_ to get up. Or else the whole reasoning for him to have gotten his borrowed time sixty-five years later would be practically meaningless. Steve breathed heavily, looking at Thanos.

“In all my years of conquest—violence—slaughter—It was never personal. But I’ll tell you now—what I’m about to do to your stubborn, _annoying_ little planet—I’m gonna enjoy it. Very, very much.”

Thanos’ entire army was summoned to the ground which includes the Children of Thanos, Chitauri, Sakaarans, Outriders, and Chitauri Gorillas. Upon seeing the army descending on Earth, Steve pushed himself up. With gritted teeth, he forced himself to get up and fight. With fierce determination, he tightened his broken shield to his arm, also sealing the huge gash in his arm. Steve stood against Thanos' giant army, ready to fight it. Alone. He already died in war before, a frozen memory. Is this what awaited him? All his borrowed time slipping away from him? If this is how the end will be, defending his planet—maybe even the whole universe, he has got to take command, and take a stand. “ _I can do this all day._ ”

Suddenly, a crackling came in on his communicator. “ _Hey, Cap, you read me?_ ”

Steve stopped and looks around. It couldn’t have been—Sam? It’s been a while. “ _Cap, it's Sam. Can you hear me?_ ”

A yellow portal begins to form behind him.

“ _On your left._ ”

Steve looked behind to see the portal on his left side. Three figures step through; Okoye, Shuri, and Black Panther, fully restored and ready to fight. Steve and the revived Wakandans shared a look when Sam zoomed in from above in his Falcon armor. As he did, Steve saw dozens more portals opening up all around the battlefield. Through one of these, Doctor Strange descended in. He was joined by Drax, Mantis, and Star-Lord. Kris and Peter swung in and crouched a bit before standing up and de-helmeting, looking around, small grins blossoming on their faces. 

This was it. This was Kris’ chance to finally prove himself, AND save the universe, along with the Avengers. Just like his dream. Just like back in the ship—he got what he wanted there, but this—this was just… insane. In a good way. He would have been gushing his enthusiasm about this whole thing, had he not realized the stakes at hand. 

Everyone watched in confusion and awe as more and more heroes arrived from all corners of the universe, all backed up with forces of their own including Black Panther and his Wakandan army, Valkyrie and the Asgardians, Wong and the Masters of the Mystic Arts and several Ravager ships. Amongst the throngs of heroes, Bucky, Groot, the Scarlet Witch, the Wasp, and Pepper Potts (clad in her own iron suit) arrived. Nearly every hero had magically been transported to the battlefield to face Thanos’ hordes.

“Is that everyone?” Strange asked the second he hovered to Wong’s side.

Wong gave him a look. “What, you wanted _more?_ ”

Giant-Man emerged from the rubble of the Avengers facility with Professor Hulk, War Machine, and Rocket. The Avengers, Guardians, Wakandans, Asgardians, and Ravagers took up battle positions. The heroes stood across Thanos’ forces, taking a stance/posing. Many other armies were doing their war cries on both sides.

“ _AVENGERS!_ ” Cap summoned Mjolnir. A beat passed. One last time for him to lead. With a fire burning within him, ready to take on Thanos’ forces, he whispered, “ _…Assemble._ ”

Thor made a battle cry, as does Black Panther and the heroes charge. Kris and Peter were swinging with the help of Giant-Man, Tony, Pepper, and practically everyone who could fly started flying. It was almost magical. Almost. Because the fate of the universe is at hand, and that just made everything a little more serious. But it was still cool, to say the least.

Thanos raised his sword towards them, commanding his army to charge as well. Then both sides collided. Drax and Korg, Pepper, and Tony, all of which were battling against Thanos’ army as much as they could.

~~~

Steve and Thor were fighting. Steve took Stormbreaker, but Thor flew to him and passed Mjolnir. 

“No, no, give me that. You have the little one.”

~~~

Kris and Peter were actually a good duo. They never really fought with each other, aside from the Thanos fight, and it was just one person. One big, durable, purple grape, to be exact. But when it was one of the smaller, more easier-to-beat kind of aliens, they made a genuinely pretty good team.

“Hey, Peter! Catch!” Kris kicked an Outrider at him, and with his Iron Spider legs, Peter caught the alien and tossed him into the air before webbing the Outrider and pulled—both of them were pulled closer together, and Peter punched the Outrider.

Peter webbed the Chitauri Leviathan. Kris saw him, and webbed himself to it, in case Peter would need the assist. Kris punched a few Chitauris off, and Peter blasted them away with a Concussive Blast. The duo combined their electric webbing and shot it into the Leviathan. It distorted the beast, and it headed toward the ground.

The duo dropped down and looked away from the destruction, bumping fists as the Leviathan hit a few of the structures that held the Outriders.

~~~

Later, Tony Stark was seen fighting some of Thanos’ army. But Cull Obsidian punched him to the ground. Tony blasted at him but Cull Obsidian didn’t do , then Giant-Man stomps him flat, and Kris dashed over to Tony.

“Hey! Holy cow! You will not believe what's been going on. Do you remember when we were in space? And I got all dusty? I must've passed out, Because I woke up, and you were gone. But Doctor Strange was there, right? He was like, ‘It’s been five years. Come on, they need us’, or something like that. And then he started doing the yellow sparkly thing that he does all the time—”

“He did? Oh, God.”

“What are you doing?” Tony hugged Kris, making him shocked, but he hugged Tony back. He didn’t expect how much the 5 years must have been for Tony. It must have been rough. “This is nice.”

~~~

Star-Lord was fighting a bunch of Sakaarans, killing all of them except one, which made him fall over, but a shot killed the Sakaaran, and he dropped on Quill. He got up and saw Gamora. Thinking it’s present Gamora, he was shocked. “ _Gamora?_ ” He asked, de-helmeting. He slowly approached Gamora. “I thought I lost you.”

Quill stroked Gamora’s hair, not knowing she wasn’t present in Gamora. In response, Gamora grabbed Quill’s hand firmly off her hair. “Ow.”

She kicked his nuts. “Don't—touch—” She kicked him again, only harder. “ _Me._ ”

Quill fell over from the pain, while Gamora wiped her face. “You missed the first time—Then you got them both the second time.”

Nebula walked over. Gamora turned to her. “This is the one? Seriously?”

“The choices were him, or a tree.”

Quill pointed to Gamora in confusion, then to Nebula in question, and then back to Gamora.

~~~

Clint could be seen, running around with the Gauntlet. “Cap, what do you want me to do with this damn thing?”

“Get those stones as far away as possible!” Steve shouted.

“No!” Banner punched an Outrider. “We need to get them back where they came from.”

“No way to get them back. Thanos destroyed the quantum tunnel.” Steve shrugged. A Chitauri shot at him, but he parried it and it shot back at the Chitauri. 

“Hold on!” Scott grew to normal size and pulled out a remote. “That wasn't our only time machine.” Scott pressed the button, which activates Luis’s van’s Horn with the song, _La Cucaracha,_ which was heard from afar. Hearing so, Cap went to higher ground.

“Anyone see an ugly, brown van up there?” Steve asked.

“Yes! But you're not gonna like where it's parked!” Valkyrie answered.

“Scott, how long d’you need to get that thing working?” Tony asked.

Scott ducked under a structure, and Hope grew beside him. The two exchanged glances as they examined the van. “Maybe ten minutes.”

“Get it started. We'll get the stones to you.” Cap said.

“We're on it, Cap.” Scott and Hope shared a look and they shrunk. Scott grabs Hope, and they fly to the van.

Doctor Strange trapped a group of Chitauri in his magic and sent them through portals as Tony joined him. “Hey. You said one out of fourteen-million, we win, yeah? Tell me this is it.”

“If I tell you what happens, _it won't happen._ ”

Tony sighed. “You _better_ be right.”

~~~

Scott and Hope entered a small hole in the van’s window, getting to the driver seat, regrowing, and trying to activate the Quantum Tunnel. “It’s a mess back here.” Hope commented.

“It’s—it’s dead.”

Hope turned to him. “What?”

“I have to hotwire it.” Scott grabbed wires and attempted to hotwire it.

~~~

Thanos saw the gauntlet. Clint rushed through Outriders, before finding himself surrounded. He was saved by Black Panther.

“Clint! Give it to me.”

Clint gave T’Challa the Gauntlet to T’Challa, and he ran towards the van while fighting Thanos’ army. Eventually, he was stopped by the double-edged sword, boomeranged by Thanos. When it got back to him, he charged T’Challa but was stopped by Wanda, who was filled with anger for the loss of Vision. “You took… _everything_ from me.”

“I don’t even know who you are.”

“You will.” With her powers, Wanda picked up some debris from the ground and tried to crush Thanos with it.

Ebony May grabbed the Gauntlet with his telekinesis of bricks. He does the same for T’Challa, trying to stop him from getting the glove.

“I got it!” Peter shouted. He grabbed the Gauntlet with his web-shooters and was immediately surrounded by Chitauri. “Activate Instant Kill!” The Robotic Spider Legs come out of his back, stabbing the Chitauri.

Thanos tried to kill Wanda with his double-bladed sword, but Wanda pushed it away. She then uses her powers to try and crush Thanos. He bellowed. “ _Rain fire!_ ”

“But sire, our _troops!_ ”

“Just _do_ it!” The spaceship cannons appeared and started to fire at the heroes. It flung Wanda away. Wong made a shield and held it up. The others did the same. Suddenly, one of the cannons hit a dam. Water started to flood into the battlefield. Pepper was the first to notice.

“Uh, is anyone else seeing this?” Doctor Strange looked at the broken dam and used his magic to stop the water from flooding the battlefield, creating a water tornado of sorts.

Meanwhile, Peter was still battling the Chitauri, Infinity Gauntlet in hand. “I got this. I got this! Okay, I don’t got this. Help! Somebody, help!”

Kris swung over. “ _Peter!_ ” He shouted. Peter tossed it up in the air and Kris misses it. He quickly webbed it and pulled it to his hands. Now that Peter had his hands free, he quickly took care of the surrounding Chitauri.

Kris continued to swing along. His feet skimmed a few of the Chitauri or Outrider heads as Pepper grabbed him. “Hang on, Kid. I got you.” She dropped him onto Valkyrie’s Pegasus.

Kris nodded at Valkyrie at an attempt to greet her. “Hey! Nice to meet you— _WHOAH_ , MY GOD!” The cannons knocked Kris off the Pegasus, then they turn to face something in the sky as all the cannons started shooting at the sky. Something was up, but they didn’t know what.

“What the hell is this?” Sam asked.

Tony looked up at where the cannons were firing, but clouds obstructed the view. “FRIDAY, what are they shooting at?”

“ _Something just entered the upper atmosphere._ ” FRIDAY explained.

A bright light of thundering energy came surging down as Carol Danvers flew through the ship, and it resulted in an explosion and the ship crash-landed in the lake. “Oh, yeah!” Rocket cheered.

“Danvers, we need an assist here,” Cap ordered.

~~~

Carol landed near Kris, who is on the ground, without a mask, and weirdly hugging the gauntlet with his body. “Hi, I’m—Kristian Echarri.” He said before giving her a small smile.

“Hey, Kristian Echarri.” She smiled. Her face expression changed quickly. It made Kris worry. “Where’s the purple stone?”

Kris’ heart sank. He immediately hid his lips, similar to that of an elderly without their dentures. He immediately turned the Gauntlet to face him, and the Power Stone was gone. He puffed his cheeks and sighed. “Oh, _ffffrick._ ”

Kris sat upright and observed the battle field. Thanos was in the middle of the army, and he was lifting his fist into the air and bellowing. His arm was surging with purple energy. Kris turned to Carol, his face pale. “Uh, so, uhm, uh… _sorry._ And how are you planning to get through the army?” He pointed toward the massive waves of Chitauris and Chitauri Gorillas.

“Don’t worry,” Wanda said as she landed beside Carol.

“She’s got help,” Okoye added. Kris looked around in awe, as all the other women of the Avengers stood beside her. 

“Uh… fe-feminism…?” Kris awkwardly said, his fist raised. “In a good way! In a good way! I mean well, and, I, uh, kinda support that! Equal rights, you know?” Pepper chuckled a little. He turned around.

Pepper landed next to Okoye, followed by Mantis, Shuri, the Wasp, Gamora and Nebula. Thanos’ army charges while the women help Carol Danvers go through the Outriders, Sakaarans, and Chitauri. Gamora took out a gorilla, while Okoye took out Corvus Glaive. Wanda and Valkyrie destroyed two leviathans. Carol Danvers then started flying towards the van with the Gauntlet, flying past enemies and going through enemy blockades that were in her way with ease.

Thanos, seeing this, started running to Carol Danvers, but was stopped by Pepper, Shuri and The Wasp, who blasted him backward. Thanos, after seeing Carol Danvers fly past him, threw his double sword at the van, destroying it and the quantum realm tunnel, throwing Carol Danvers backward and losing her grip on the Gauntlet, which fell to the ground. Doctor Strange steadied the water after the explosion.

~~~

In the final brawl for the Stark Gauntlet, Tony moved one of Thanos’ enemies aside and saw the Gauntlet. He ran to get it but saw Thanos, who Tony tackled. Thanos smacks Tony away, knocking him out. Then Thor arrived with Stormbreaker and Mjolnir in an attempt to pin Thanos’ arm down, with assistance from Captain America.

However, Thanos used the Power Stone’s power and knocked them both out. After picking up the Gauntlet, Carol arrived, punching away at Thanos while he was holding the Gauntlet. She kept punching him, but Thanos grabbed her and used the power stone, blasting her away. Thanos swiftly placed the power stone back and put on the gauntlet, gamma radiation from the stones eating at him as he tried to snap, but Carol arose again and stopped his fingers from snapping, opening up his hand similar to what Captain America did in Wakanda.

Thanos headbutted her, but it did nothing. Just as Carol was gaining the upper hand by rising up and forcing Thanos onto his knees, Thanos pulled out the Power Stone and used it in his left hand to hit Carol away.

Stark looked in question at Strange, who simply raised one finger, reminding him that the one win over Thanos he foresaw was now at risk. Or was it? Stark nodded solemnly, slowly starting to get what he must do. Thanos put the Power Stone back into the Gauntlet, yelling from the gamma radiation coursing through him, until Stark made one last attack on Thanos, pulling on the Gauntlet before Thanos punched him away. Thanos looked at the gauntlet.

“I am— _inevitable._ ” Thanos snapped his fingers, but nothing happened except a metallic clink. He twisted his hand to see that the Infinity Stones were missing. Tony had the stones on his own gauntlet, the gamma radiation coursing through him, to Thanos’ shock.

_Tony imagined death so much it felt like a memory. Is this where it got him? On his knees, literally right in his hands? He saw it coming—Does he run, or snap his fingers, or let it be? There is no beat, no melody. Thanos. His own curse, and enemy. Maybe the last face he would ever see. If he threw away his shot, is this how you’ll remember him? What if this snap is his legacy?_

_Legacy. What is a legacy? It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see. He wrote some notes at the beginning of a song someone would sing for him. America, you great unfinished symphony, you sent for him. It let him make a difference, a place where even orphaned people can leave their fingerprints and rise up. He was running out of time, he was running, and his timewass up. Wise up, eyes up. He caught a glimpse of the other side. Coulson’s playing around with his trading cards on the other side. His father was on the other side. He’s with his mother on the other side. JARVIS/Vision's watching from the other side. Teach him how to say goodbye. Rise up, rise up, rise up…_

_Pepper!_

Tony had his arms outstretched in his mind. He wouldn’t live long enough to see Morgan grow, or to see Kris graduate, or even Peter become more successful in life. He was gonna miss all of that. Because of one good deed he had to do. But if it weren’t for that good deed, they most likely wouldn’t have those moments in life. He breathed shakily.

_My love, take your time. I'll see you on the other side._

“And I… Am… _Iron Man._ ”

Tony snapped his fingers with a loud _CLANG_ and a blinding flash of white light. Rocket fired at a Leviathan and before it devoured him, it crumbled into ash. The Black Order started crumbling to ash. T’Challa and Quill look around in surprise; Steve looked on in exhaustion, knowing that they had won. Thanos, in horror, looked around and saw his entire army disintegrate. He looked at Steve, who just stared at him. Thanos sat down and mourned before slowly being erased from existence himself. 

Kris and Peter looked around in astonishment as the army disintegrated. They immediately understood that someone must have snapped—but the question remained: Who snapped? Peter saw Carol, Thanos, and Tony by the gauntlet before they snapped from the corner of his eye, but was too preoccupied with the enemies surrounding him to bother helping. It couldn’t have been Thanos, so it could be either Carol or Tony. 

~~~

The power of the gauntlet’s raw energy has left Tony’s entire right side fatally injured. His entire right side was black, aside from his face, which was partially black. He stumbled for a bit before his body collapsed beside a pile of debris. Rhodey soon flew in and went up to Tony to see his long time colleague and friend fading away. He bowed his head, knowing the damage was done. Peter and Kris soon leapt in and saw Tony collapsed on the ground.

“Mr. Stark?” Kris ran up to his fallen mentor. Tears started to form in his eyes. Peter lowered his head and placed a hand on Kris’ shoulder. He didn’t know how to say it to him. “Hey—Mr. Stark? Can you hear me? It’s Kristian. Hey. We won, Mr. Stark—We won, sir. We won. You did it, sir. You did it” Tony was unresponsive. Kris broke down and hugged him. “I’m sorry— _Tony—_ ”

Kris was gently led aside to grieve. Peter had to place his hand on his shoulder to try and comfort him. But of course, people had their limits. Peter had one of his own. He bottled up the sorrow he had for the past ten years of his life. The two started sobbing violently. Pepper sat in front of the fading Iron Man. “Hey.”

Tony was barely able to move his head but managed to look Pepper in the eyes. He smiled at her. “Hey, Pep…” 

Pepper placed her hand on Tony’s Arc Reactor and Tony rest his hand on hers. Pepper took a good look at Tony’s fatal injuries. “FRIDAY?”

“ _Life functions critical._ ”

“Tony. Look at me." She made sure Tony gets a long look at her smiling face. “We’re gonna be okay. You can rest now.”

With that acknowledgment, Tony’s arc reactor flickered off for good. Pepper can no longer contain her grief and started crying on his shoulder. Tony Stark, Iron Man, Earth’s Best Defender, was dead.

~~~

Kris stood at the doorstep of his old apartment and sighed. He didn’t know if he was ready for this. Or even if his cousins were ready for it. He took a deep breath, and knocked on the door. He wasn’t even sure if they moved out or not. 

“Coming!” The mere sound of his cousin’s voice almost made him tear up. He quickly wiped away his tears and zipped up his black jacket, fixing his hair and propping up his glasses. The door opened, and Ivy was there. 

“Surprise…” Kris awkwardly gave jazz hands. Ivy covered her mouth.

“Who is it?” Marlene turned the corner and saw him. “Oh my god…” Marlene whispered, covering her mouth in shock the second she turned to see who it was at the door. 

Nicolette and Isabelle stepped in to comfort Marlene, only to see Kris at the door. The two of them gasped. Kris sighed. He knew it’d turn up like this. He tried his best to give a smile, but he was crying. Not sad tears. Happy ones. “I’m home.” A few beats passed. “...Where’s Abby?”

The four others snapped out of their trance of sorts. “Oh. Right. During the time you were gone, Abby got married. She’s living with Finn.”

“Who in the H-E-Double-Muffin is Finn?” Kris said with a straight face, wiping away his face.

Isabelle raised her eyebrows. “Our… tutor? He was in the same year as us, which was pretty weird for him to be our tutor. But you forgot?”

“ _Finn…?_ ” Kris paused to think, wiping his pants. It hit him. “OH! Yeah, that guy! The guy that the author only mentioned once during the first chapter and never again. Yeah, I remember him now.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

~~~

At Kris’ school, Kris and Claude met in the hallways. Man, Midtown has changed after 5 years, huh? The exterior was the same, but the interior was so much different compared to before. There were marble pillars everywhere, unlike before. Kris slowly walked up to Claude and they shared a handshake before giving each other a heartfelt hug. “Love you, man. No homo.”

“Love you too, man. No homo.”

Gwen and Lysithea, who had seen this, both had the tips of their fingers on their lips and having a small v-shaped smile. (“A better love story than Twilight.”)

~~~

At Clint Barton’s farm, he joyfully reunited with his family.

~~~

In San Francisco, Scott watched fireworks with Cassie and Hope.

~~~

In Wakanda, T’Challa, Shuri, and Ramonda oversaw the celebrations from their balcony.

~~~

“ _Everybody wants a happy ending, right? But it doesn’t always roll that way. Maybe this time. I’m hoping if you play this back, it’s in celebration. I hope families are reunited, I hope we get it back, and something like a normal version of the planet has been restored. If there ever was such a thing. God, what a world. Universe, now. If you told me ten years ago that we weren't alone, let alone, you know, to this extent, I mean, I wouldn’t have been surprised. But come on, you know? The epic forces of darkness and light that have come into play. And, for better or worse, that’s the reality Morgan’s gonna have to find a way to grow up in._ ”

At the Stark Cabin. Pepper, Morgan, Happy, Steve, Rhodey all watched Tony’s holographic message being projected from his Iron Man helmet. Tony was sitting down recording the message.

“ _So I thought I’d probably better record a little greeting… In the case of an untimely death on my part. I mean, not that, death at any time isn't untimely. This time travel thing that we’re gonna try and pull off tomorrow, it’s—it’s got me scratching my head about the survivability of it all. That’s the thing. Then again, that's the hero gig. Part of the journey is the end. End of a journey that started in a cave._ ”

Tony suddenly got up walking towards his camera, wiping his pants.

“What am I even trippin’ for? Everything’s gonna work out exactly the way it’s supposed to.”

He leaned down and smiled. He was looking at Morgan, who tugged at her mother’s sleeve.

“ _ **I love you 3000.**_ ”

The message ended and the hologram cut out.

~~~

Outside the cottage. Pepper carried a wreath out of the house to an audience waiting outside for the intimate funeral. She laid the wreath on the lake. On top of the wreath is Tony’s first arc reactor which Pepper had framed with the words “Proof That Tony Stark Has a Heart” back in 2008. Pepper, Morgan, Kris, The Quints, Happy Hogan, & Rhodey are all standing at the docks, paying their respects to Tony, all being joined by Steve Rogers, Peter Parker, May Parker, Thor, Bruce Banner, Doctor Strange, Wong, Scott Lang, Hope Van Dyne, Janet Van Dyne, Hank Pym, Peter Quill, Nebula, Rocket, Groot, Drax, Mantis, T’Challa, Okoye, Shuri, Clint Barton & his family, Wanda Maximoff, Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson, Harley Keener, Secretary Ross, Maria Hill, Carol Danvers, and Nick Fury, silently watching the wreath float away.

~~~

“You know, I wish there was a way– that I could let her know. That we won.” Clint looks over to Wanda. ”We did it.”

“She knows—They both do.” Clint gives her a side hug and Wanda reciprocates.

~~~

Kris was sitting at the dock, still observing the wreath. It was peaceful. But he let the dam that he built up during the funeral break down, so that immediately subtracted the peace factor. A hand dropped onto his shoulder. He turned around to see who it was. It's Steve.

“Oh. Hey, Mr. Rogers.” He quietly said, wiping the snot from his nose.

Steve crouched down beside him. “How you holding up?”

“I’m fine.” He said before sniffling violently. Mostly because he couldn’t breathe from the crying. “Okay—maybe I’m not. But I just, I don't know. I feel like I could have done something _more_ to stop this. To stop his death.”

Steve gave him a look, patting his back. “Are you _kidding?_ You took the Gauntlet, knowing very well you’re risking your own life without even hesitating. When you grow up, you’re gonna be the best of all of us.”

Kris looked back at Steve and gave him a small smile. Steve did the same.

“And let me tell you what I wished I’d known. When I was young and dreamed of glory, you have no control who lives, who dies, who tells your story.”

“Were you just referencing Hamilton?” Kris asked with a small smirk on his face.

Steve looked out at the wreath, then back at Kris. “Well—Tony told me about how you liked Hamilton while we were discussing our plans.”

“Thanks. I really needed that.”


	19. Three-Thousand Miles From Where It's All Begun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris needs a break—and what better to have that break, than the school vacation?

Art class. Kris didn’t really have anything particular in mind on what to do for it. The whole school was assigned to draw a picture for Iron Man, but he just _couldn’t_ do it. He looked under the table, where his note to Lysithea laid. He snatched it, briskly walked to the toilet, tore it up, and flushed it. “Never again.” 

~~~

“So, Kris, howzit going with Lysithea?” Claude asked as he dropped the pencil he had. He drew a neat sketch of Iron Man. 

“I wrote Lysithea a letter, telling her I feel…” Kris explained.

“That’s progress!” Claude exclaimed.

“Yeah, I tore it up and flushed it.” Claude groaned, resting his head on a hand in disappointment.

“It's _still_ progress…” Kris added.

Claude raised a hand. “It’s fine, dude.”

“But... I _do_ have a plan for the trip.” Claude’s face brightened up. He was known for planning and scheming stuff. 

“What’s the plan, my fellow schemer?” Claude asked, wrapping his hand around Kris. Kris bent over to take his notebook from his messenger bag. He pulled it out and flipped to the plans page.

“So, my plan. Okay, first, I’m gonna sit next to Lysithea on the flight. Second, I’m gonna buy a dual headphone adapter and watch movies with her the whole time. Three, when we go to Venice—Venice is super famous for making stuff out of glass, right?” 

“True…”

“So, I’m gonna buy her a Lily necklace, because her favorite flowers are Lilies, just because—honestly, I don’t know. I just know she likes ‘em, but I can’t remember why. Four, when we go to Paris, I’m gonna take her to the top of the Eiffel Tower, give her the necklace. And then five, I’m gonna tell her how I feel… And then six, hopefully, she tells me… she feels the same way.”

“Oh, don't forget step seven,” Claude responded.

“Right, step seven,” Kris muttered to himself as he clicked a pen and started writing.

“Don’t do any of that,” Claude deadpanned. Kris placed his pen down and gave Claude a disappointed look.

“What, why?”

“My man, old buddy, old friend, a wise old man once told me, don’t tell a girl that you like her. It’ll just make you stupid.” Claude said. Kris opened his mouth, but Claude continued. “Plus, we’re basically going to be bachelors. In _Europe_. I may not know much, but I do know this: Europeans love Americans.”

“But my ethnicity is Filipin—”

“Same thing. And more than half of them are women!” Claude interjected. 

“Okay, sure, but… I really like Lysithea, man. Okay? She’s awesome, she’s smart, and sometimes I catch her looking at me, and I like I’ve feel stood up way too—”

“Wait. Dude, she's coming now. Just do’'t say anything.” Claude said, throwing Kris’ notebook under the table. 

Lysithea and Gwen walked up to them. Claude folded his arms in an attempt to act casual, while Kris held his pen with both hands nervously. “Excited about the Science Trip?”

“That’s… a coincidence!” Kris exclaimed, still trying to find words on what to say. “We were, uh, just… talking about the trip!”

“Yeah. And Kris’ plan.” Claude added.

“You have a _plan?_ ” Gwen raised her eyebrows at Kris.

“I don’t-- I don’t have a plan.”

“He’s—he’s just gonna collect tiny spoons when we’re travelling to different countries.” Kris gave Claude the death stare, while Claude returned it with a small smirk and a wink. 

“Like a… Like a grandmother?”

“Oh, I’m not collecting tiny spoons.” Kris quickly said. He gestured toward Claude with his head. “He’s collecting tiny spoons.”

~~~

Kris fixed the sole of his suit after taking down a robbery. The second he rounded the corner, new broadcasters crowded around him. Flashing lights blasted his eyes. He sighed. “Uh… okay, okay—one question at a time…”

Kris pointed at a lady in the crowd. “Are you the head Avenger now?”

“Uh… no, I’m not…”

“If aliens come back, what are you gonna do?”

Kris breathed heavily. “D-does anybody have any neighborhood questions?”

“Sean Wilford, Queens Tribute. What does it like to take over for Tony Stark? Those are some big shoes to fill.”

“I’mma… I’m gonna go, thanks, have a nice day…” Kris started hyperventilating. He placed a hand on his forehead and stomach. Not only did he have a stomach ache, but he also had a mild heartburn from out of nowhere. He jumped and swung to the building where he hid his bag and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. His phone started buzzing and declined it. 

He turned his head to the right and saw a huge painting of Iron Man. He sighed and looked off to the city. 

~~~

“Hey, Mr. Conagher.” Kris said as he walked into the store. “ _Wow,_ your store changed a lot.”

“Well, this was practically the only convenience store that didn’t close down during… well, _you know._ ” Conagher said. Kris picked up a few Europe Adaptors. “You planning a trip?”

“Uh, Europe. Yeah.” Kris responded, picking out snacks and a traveller’s pack that had a toothbrush and toothpaste.

“Oh, can I come?” Mr. Conagher joked as he rested his arms on the counter.

“It’s a Science trip. Tesla, da Vinci, all that.”

Conagher removes his hands from the counter. “I’m good. Anything else?”

“Tiene un adaptador de auriculares dual?” Kris spoke, having a nagging feeling he’s just embarrassing himself.

“ _Que?_ ”

“Dual headphone adaptor.” Kris responded.

“Es un adaptador de auriculares dual.” Mr. Conagher corrected as he passed Kris the dual headphone adaptor. (I apologize to the Spanish people I just used Google Translate)

“Oh.”

~~~

This one, Kris wasn’t emotionally ready for. He placed all of his old toys—including his very first toy, which was his Spider-Man toy, all into a box and walked to the nearest pawn shop.

~~~ 

Kris nervously placed the box of toys onto the counter. 

“You sure about that?” The man at the counter asked. 

“Y-yeah, I just… wanna buy a girl I really like something nice.” Kris responded.

“Hmph. Well, hope she’s worth it.” The man said. He passed the money to Kris.

At the last second, Kris made up his mind. “Actually, can I keep the Spider-Man?” He quickly said, pointing at his favourite and first. He had to specify, because his box was practically full of Spider-Men. 

Surprisingly, the man didn’t deduct any money from him. He just passed Kris the Spider-Man toy. “Thanks.”

~~~

Kris passed under the elevated train tracks, running fast, but not too fast so that he wouldn’t give his identity as Kid-Arachnid. He walked in and stood in line. Kris bent to his right to see how long the line was. As he expected, it _was_ long.

Lucky for him, though. He still had the mini spider-drone in his suit from his backpack. He pulled out his phone and pretended to text on it. “Okay, Dronie. Do your thing.” He whispered. 

The drone crawled through the small hole in his messenger bag and flew over to the counter. Kris stopped looking at his phone and looked at the counter, and back at the sign that said ‘closed’ in anticipation. The spider crawled around until it found a button. 

It pressed the button, and the sign that was previously ‘closed’ is now ‘open’. Kris smiled a little before lifting the queue barrier so he could pass through. “Hey—uh, Kristian Echarri here to pick up a passport, please.”

The woman who was on her break awkwardly looked at Kris.

~~~

Kris packed his suitcase. He looked at it, but he set it back down, upset. It was his father’s old suitcase.He pulled a bin from underneath the bed and took some clothes out and sniffed them as he placed it in his suitcase. He got up, exhausted. An unknown number calls him, and he sends it to voicemail, too tired to see who it was. It was probably a Scam Likely caller anyway.

Kris turned to see his suit. He doesn’t _want_ to bring it. He wanted to hide away from the crossfire. Maybe just for a week or so. He knew he’d be leaving his story behind, if just for _one_ night, but he has his own plans this time. “What’s the worst that could happen if I run from everything I _thought_ I wanted?” He muttered.

Kris could pretend that he was honest. But he usually wasn’t. He sighed as he packed his suit. “Just in case.”

Kris sat down afterwards, his knees to his chest. “Hey, God… This is Kristian Echarri. Could I ask a favour? I know I’ve been your personal cat toy for the last few years… well, not _really_ years, but you get what I mean, right? But can we _not_ do that to me again for a while? Not real long, because I know the odds on that are about… zero. But _just_ for a little while is enough.”

Kris got up and wore his black jacket, closing up his suitcase and heading out to the living room. His cousins weren’t home, because they had their work. That meant he could charge his Iron Spider suit for a while. But he wasn’t going to take that chance—they still don’t know about his identity. When he looked at the table, Marlene’s old headphones were there. He looked at the note that rested below it. 

_FOR YOUR PLAN, IF IT GOES WELL IT HAS A DETACHABLE WIRE AND IT’S YOURS_

_-Marilynn_

Even Nicolette prepared food for him. Kris smiled at it and packed it in his suitcase. He breathed deeply and looked at the house before heading out to the door.

~~~

As the airplane drives by on the runway, Kris opened his window and looked out at the view. He smiled happily. This was the first time in two years he genuinely wanted a vacation. Claude tapped him on the shoulder, excitedly as he pulled out his Switch.

“Do you want the first shift or the second? I could take either.” Mr. Harrington asked Mr. Ludwig.

“Giffe me zee zird schift. Arh ! I took ein Ampien.” Mr. Ludwig said. (Give me the third shift. I took an Ambien.)

“I can’t chaperone these kids alone…” 

“Yo, Echarri! This is called an airplane. It’s like buses you’re used to, except it _flies_ over the poor neighborhoods instead of driving _through_ them.” Brad explained to Kris, holding a drink in his hand. Kris rolled his eyes.

If he didn’t have a secret identity, he would have told him about the time he flew to Berlin to fight with Mr. Stark against the other Avengers who were against the “Sokovia Accords” or something like that. But that was in the past. Now, he just wanted to forget about his superhero life. Even if he brought his suit. 

“Ma’am?” Lysithea called. The flight attendant turned to her. 

Gwen pointed at Brad. “He blipped, so technically he’s sixteen, not twenty-tone.”

“I’ll take that.” The flight attendant said, taking the drink.

Brad pointed at the two. “She's lying! I don't even know these girls!”

Gwen turned around to the boys that were sitting there as she left. She looked at them and lifted her chin up in a ‘hi’ kind of way. Stan smiled at them as he passed by. “Classic Lysithea, right?” 

Kris looked over at Stan with a creeped out expression as Claude sat there with a cool one. He turned his head as Kris started talking. He was creeped out especially by the fact he only called out Lysithea. 

“...Did you know Stan was coming?” Kris asked Claude. He shakes his head.

“It—It’s so weird. Like, one day, he’s that kid who cried and got nosebleeds all the time, and suddenly, we Blip back, and he’s totally ripped and super nice and all these girls are after him.” Claude said, lowering the volume of his Switch.

Kris narrowed his eyebrows as they turned back around from watching Stan and Lysithea put their stuff in the overhead compartments.“Not _all_ the girls are after him,” Kris said in obvious denial.

“No, man. They’re _all_ after him.” Claude responded.

“Anyway, on to more important things. It’s a nine-hour flight. We can play Smash Bros the whole time.”

Kris looked back at Lysithea, staring at her for a split second before leaning into Claude’s ear to whisper. “I need your help to sit next to Lysithea.”

“Seriously?”

“ _Yes,_ seriously.”

Claude looked at him with solemn eyes. He turned around and back again. Kris looked desperately at him.

“Please,” Kris begged. Claude sighed, got up from his seat and walked over to where Lysithea and Emma sat, who were both reading books before saying,

“Hey, guys. Uh, there’s an old lady in front of us wearing a crazy amount of perfume and it’s kind of setting off Kris’ allergies. Uh, Emma, if you could switch seats with him, that would be—”

“He’s allergic to _perfume?_ ” Emma asked, looking up from her book, Lord Of The Flies.

“Yeah, yeah, because it—it makes his eyes water, and he can't really—”

“Kris has a perfume allergy?” Mr. Harrington asked, craning his neck. Claude shook his head.

“Oh, uh…”

“From experience, perfume allergies are no joke. I can feel hives breaking out already. Lysithea, stand up. Claude, take Lysithea's spot. Lysithea, you take my spot. Kris, come with me, let's get you out of there. Raphael and Ignatz, you take Claude and Kris's seats. Claude, thanks for bringing this to my attention. Your safety is my responsibility and Mr. Ludwig's, but he’s…” Mr. Harrington glanced at Mr. Ludwig, who was already asleep. “I got it for now. Let's go, Kris!”

“ _This is NOT going to plan…_ ” Kris thought to himself as he reluctantly walked to where Mr. Harrington and Mr. Ludwig sat, grabbing his messenger bag.

“Yeah, I have a small bladder, so I took the aisle.” Kris sighed as he placed his messenger bag and suitcase between his 

“So, uh, do you… Wanna play… Minecraft…?” Claude spluttered.

“No,” Emma responded.

“Have you ever played any kind of PC game or—?”

“No.” She said once more. Claude nodded awkwardly, before taking out his laptop to play Minecraft. Because he knew Smash would end up getting repetitive after a while, without Kris. Especially during a nine-hour flight.

“Did I tell you how my wife pretended to blip out?” Mr. Harrington asked Kris, in an attempt to break the awkwardness. All Kris did was watch Lysithea sit beside Brad, sadly. “Turns out, she ran off with a guy in her hiking group. We had a fake funeral for her and everything. Well, the funeral was real because I thought she was really dead. Wanna see the video?”

“I got a dual headphone adapter if you wanna watch a movie,” Stan said, pulling out thee adapter.

“Only if it's animated. Or hilarious.” Lysithea responded.

Kris blankly stared at his own dual headphone adaptor, visibly hurt just by the sight of the two. His lip twitched. 

“Oh, you have a dual headphone adapter. We can watch together.” Mr. Harrington commented.

“ _Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking. Flight time today will be eight hours and forty-nine minutes to Venice, Italy._ ”

Later that night, he lifted his head up, to see what Lysithea and Stan were doing. Like what he was supposed to be doing, (according to the plan) the two were laughing and enjoying the movie they were watching. He sighed deeply.

Sure, he wanted Lysithea to be happy, but…

Kris had a vacant expression as he looked to the screen in front of him and started watching a documentary because he had nothing to do (Other than vacantly stare at Lysithea and Stan), based on his old mentor, Tony Stark. He rested his head on the headrest, and folded his arms and watched. He pulled out his cousin’s blue headphones and wore it, plugging it to the screen. He’d rather be playing Minecraft or Smash Bros with Claude over this.

Meanwhile, Claude was enjoying his Minecraft session. He was close to beating The Ender Dragon there, and would occasionally “Oh!” as softly as he could, while aggressively smashing the keys on his keyboard. (Keep in mind, he had no space for a mouse in the place, making him a legend for using just a trackpad) Emma would occasionally take small peeks at the screen. Claude, also doing the same with her book.

The icon for the seatbelt turned off. And since Mr. Harrington was asleep, the only way Kris could get out was by putting one hand on the chair, another hand on the cabin, and lifting himself out.

~~~

While Kris was in the toilet, the icon beeped back, because of mild turbulence. Well, the turbulence wasn't bad, seeing as Kris had his stickiness. He just tightened his grasp on the sink. That was all. 

When Kris walked out of the bathroom, Lysithea stood there, waiting. He immediately went back in and sighed deeply. He cleaned every possible spot there. Lysithea, still waiting, pressed her ear against the door to try and make out what he was doing through sound. Kris, already done cleaning, he flushed the toilet, washed his hands again, fixed his hair, checked for any food (He ate the lunch Nicolette packed him sadly while watching the documentary) stuck in between his teeth.

He smiled to himself at the reflection, tilted his head to the right a bit, and went back out, only to see Stan, smiling and peace-signing him.

Kris, still a bit disappointed with his plan failing miserably, slowly went back to his seat. It was probably the saddest thing you could possibly see. Kris turned to his iPad and caught up on the good shows he missed out on while he blipped away, like Julie and the Phantoms.

~~~

When the airplane landed in Venice, Italy, everyone was checking in. Kris adjusted Marilynn’s headphones around his neck. Marilynn used to have it around her neck about ninety-nine-percent of the time, before the Blip. The remaining one-percent being sleep.

“Hey man, did you see Stan and Lysithea on the plane? They were watching movies and laughing the entire time.” Kris rapidly said.

“Dude, don’t worry, okay? I’m sure it’s nothing.” Claude reassured Kris, before looking in front. Lo and behold, it was Lysithea talking to Stan. He puffed his cheeks and sighed.

“Hey, Claude. Can you hold this, for a while, please?” Emma asked, handing him a water bottle.

Kris furrowed his eyebrows and had his mouth slightly open, confused as to what was going on. “What was that..?”

“Oh, so apparently Emma and I had a lot in common.” Claude explained.

“Emma…? Isn’t she that one kid that was always rebelling?” Kris asked, scratching his chin a little.

“So, yeah, she used to do that. But now, post-blip, she’s _really_ nice now!”

~~~

Kris was walking to the bag check area before one of the guard dogs sniffed out his bag. He had to be stopped and had his bag checked.

“There’s nothing in there. I swear.” Kris said as the lady unzipped his bag. Apparently, he had forgotten to put his suit under all the other clothes. So it was just out in the open. Kris, being the dope that he was, looked behind as if to try and avoid questions, and flashed his world-famous line mouth, according to his cousins.

“These, no.” the lady said, holding up his banana.

When Kris was finally done with the bag check, he ran to where the class was.


	20. World’s Worst Water Feature

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The vacation in Venice was going great, until...

“Whoah!” Everyone collectively said. The sight was beautiful. The water was a nice, clear blue. It sparkled in the morning sunlight. When they took the boat, everyone was cheering, taking photos/selfies, or just enjoying the ride to the hotel. In fact, Lysithea looked back and looked right at Kris. Though, he immediately looked away, his lips twitching a bit. 

Kris noticed water transitioned from dark blue, to sea green, to light blue. It was pretty neat. He knew they were nearing shallow water, because he learnt that when he visited his mother’s side of the family in the Philippines. But there was _something_ about the water that’s so off-putting to him. He just couldn’t put his finger on it. Like… something big was coming. The moment he was having right now felt like the calm before the storm. Still, he’s too desperate for a break to _not_ have any action. Just a nice, peaceful vacation.

“Looks like we’re here!” Mr. Harrington said. “They’re doing some renovations to the place. Getting some upgrades.”

“This is trash!” One of the students complained.

Kris looked around. It didn’t look as bad as it seemed. Probably because he’s used to places like these in the Philippines. (Not to offend any fellow Filipinos of course.) The only thing that worried him was the fact there was a small area in the reception where a shallow puddle of water stayed, with only a small plank acting as a bridge across it. “Okay, Hefferypody. Arh! Drop your pags off, ve’re koing to meet at zee Da Finci muzeum at three! Let’s ko!” Mr. Ludwig said, gesturing to the stairs. (Okay, everybody. Put your bags down, we’re going to the Da Vinci museum at three! Let’s go!)

Mr. Harrington raised a fist. “Vamonos!”

“It’s andiamo,” Gwen corrected.

“Andiamo!”

“Ven in Rome, vu do as Romans do. Arh ! Ven vu’re in Fenice, your zocks get vet!” (When in Rome, you do as the Romans do. When you’re in Venice, your socks get wet!)

The students grumbled.

~~~

Kris walked around the streets of Venice. If anything, it kind of reminded him of that one city in the Pokemon movie with Latios and Latias. He’s pretty sure it’s based on Venice, but he didn’t know—he hasn’t revisited the movie since he was around four or five. It was a pretty place, though. Kris looked around for the glass shop he was looking for, but they’re so hard to find, because most of Venice looked the same with its shops. 

As he was looking, he found a bearded man with a hawaiian shirt and a hat. He had his phone to his ear. What was _really_ creepy, was that the very same man was looking right at him, dead in the eye. It was unsettling. Instead of standing around awkwardly, he quickly whipped out his phone and pretended to call someone.

Beside the vast sea, he spotted a glass shop. Perfect. Just what he needed. He looked around before entering the shop, making sure this was the place Google Maps told him. He entered the shop, pulling up the image he downloaded pre-flight for the Lily Necklace. “Buongiorno.”

“Buongiorno,” The shopkeeper replied.

“Hi, so, I’m looking… for, a, um…” Kris showed an image to the shopkeeper. “This.”

The shopkeeper snapped his fingers and looked in his cabinet. He held the Lily necklace into the light. It wasn’t like the image he showed, but it was definitely prettier than what he showed. “Fiore bianco.”

Kris looked at the necklace, holding it up to the level of his eyes. He placed the money on the counter and continued to look at it, smiling. “It’s _perfect._ ”

~~~

He exited the shop and joined the fray of tourists and locals in Venice. He was smiling to himself as he held the bag. Lysithea came up unexpectedly behind him before saying, “Boh,”

Kris furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “What?”

“Boh. It’s the most intellectual word in the world. Italians created it, and Gwen just discovered it, told it to me, and now, I’m telling it to you..” Lysithea explained. It made Kris suspect something. He turned around to see Gwen from afar, lowering her beret. Normally, he wouldn’t be able to see her. But the spider bite enhanced his senses. Including his vision. “What?”

Kris turned back to Lysithea. “Oh. Nothing.” The two continued walking. Kris nervously held his bag, internally debating with himself whether or not to give it to her right off the bat. “So, uh, what does it mean?”

“That’s the thing, it can mean a million things. It can mean ‘I don’t know’, ‘get out of my face’, ‘I don’t know _and_ get out of my face’. It’s the best thing Italy ever created. Except for maybe Strawberry Gelato.”

“Oh, so you’ve been eating Strawberry Gelato..?” Kris asked. A third option popping up in his head. Either: Continue walking and chatting to build up their relationship gradually, give her the necklace and immediately ask her out, escalating their relationship from a 10-ish to a 100 straight off the bat, or ask her out to get dessert. But he chose the first option, because: The second one was just weird, and the third one is too ballsy for him to pull off.

“So... What's in the bag?” She questioned. The two of them stop. 

“Oh, um... Boh.” Kris answered.

Lysithea narrowed her eyes. “Nice.”

The two were walking along the river until Lysithea noticed the many crabs escaping the water by drawing up the pillars at one of the many docks. She pulled out her phone to take a picture, purely out of fascination. “Woah, cool…” She commented.

His Spider-Senses must be tingling because the hair on his arms and legs were standing up, and he’s feeling the familiar buzzing feeling in his skull. And for a good reason. Water was being sucked into the grate. Which was too unnatural to go unnoticed. Not to mention the random white water that trailed the water. 

Kris looked up for a split second, before looking down, and then looked back up again, seeing Claude and Emma on a Gondola Ride. The waves slowly grew larger. Kris almost wanted to cry and curl into a fetus position. The chances of getting that break that he wanted so badly had vanished. 

“Oh my goodness…” Kris muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand and folding the other, closing his eyes in irritation. The waves continued before the water became still for a split second. Kris opened his eyes. There was nothing. Maybe it was just a really scary, _really_ convincing, hallucina—

 _BOOM!_ The water exploded in one, big, geyser. Definitely the work of some super-powered villain. Or maybe sentient water. Still, he wasn’t taking the chances that the random water monster would be friendly whatsoever. “OH, COME ON!” Kris shouted. 

Despite his break being interrupted, he knew he was going to have action. But maybe if it was just this one time, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.“Claude! Emma! You okay?!” Kris yelled out, as their boat was pushed to where Kris and Lysithea were in. He immediately helped the two out. “Get out, get out, get out!” 

Claude got out of the boat. Kris and Claude were practically hugging each other as the two of them looked as the water formed into a man-like being. “What was that?!”

Kris turned to Claude. “I don’t know!” 

“What are you gonna do?”

“I left my suit in the hotel room!”

“ _Why?!_ ”

“Because I'm on vacation, Claude! Everyone’s gonna see my face, just get them outta here!” Kris explained as he pushed Claude towards the stairs where Emma and Lysithea were waiting. The water monster smashed its hand into a building. More people screamed. The creature continued to smash buildings and boats. Kris proceeded to help more people off the stairs so they could get as far as they could.

“Get out of here! Go!” Kris shouted at the person he helped out. Kris turned back to the monster as it crashed into a building in front of him. He proceeded to stumble back.

“Oh my gord!” he shouted, (His mind got stuck between God and Lord.) running up the stairs and barely making it around the corner before the monster smashed into the building where he had been standing. Kris hit his wrist together to activate his web-shooters. He shot his web, but it had no effect. Which was kind of expected, he didn’t really know why he came to the conclusion of it being able to affect the water monster in any way possible in the first place.

“Oh, come on…” Kris commented, before jumping across poles in the water and launching himself up onto the bridge by leaping off a peddle. He helped a man up.

“You okay? Get out of here. Go!” The water monster slammed its fist into the bridge and Kris was sent flying backward. He hit the other side of the bridge, now soaking wet. He coughed out water, panting to catch his breath.

A green light was seen shooting at the monster from above. Behind Kris, there was a rumbling sound and a cloud of green mist appeared in the sky. Out of the mist, a man with an elaborate suit and a cape appeared, wearing a glass bowl over his head that swirled with mist. Kris turned to see the hero, wondering who he was. But he had to get his head in the game and help him. He looked around and saw a masquerade mask on the ground.

The mysterious man shot green light at the monster, dodging its attacks as he flew through the air. The water monster attempted to punch him, but the man blocked it with a green energy of sorts. The man was thrown onto the ground and the monster roared. The man emerged from the water and flew at the monster once again.

“Excuse me, sir! I c—I can help! Let me help! I’m really strong and I’m… sticky!” Kris shouted, struggling to stick to the wet surface of the roof of the bridge. The wall that the roof covered, however, wasn’t as wet, so it was doable for him to stick.

“I need you to lead it away from the canals!” The mystery man commanded. The man flew off as the monster smashed into the building where Kris stood. Kris flipped away, landing on the roof behind him. The monster smashed through a building. Kris swung around it, attaching as many webs as possible to hold it together.

~~~

“Zee DaFFinci Muzeum. Arh ! Zis is vy ve're here in Fenice!” Mr. Ludwig commented. (The da Vinci Museum. This is why we’re here in Venice!)

“Oh, this is it.” Mr. Harrington looked up from his map. “It’s closed.” 

“Vat do vu mean it's clozed? 'Till ven?” (What do you mean it’s closed? ‘Til when?)

“November.”

Mr. Ludwig looked at Mr. Harrington. “Vu didn't check zee vepzite?” (You didn’t check the website?)

“Oh, that's a good idea.”

Mysterio followed by a blast of water, shot behind them and the group ran. Mysterio dodged more of the water monster’s attacks, sending more green beams at the elemental. The monster hit the bell tower in an attempt to hit Mysterio, but Mysterio led it to a plaza of sorts. 

~~~

As Kris followed the destructive water monster, he saw that the bell tower that the water monster and the man passed by was about to fall right into the running cross of people. “Oh, come on!” Kris took a leap and started swinging to the bell tower. 

“Schtay low, kids! Arh ! Ve’ll pe zafe here.” Mr. Ludwig said, leading the kids. (Stay low, kids! We’ll be safe here.)

Kris swung around the bell tower, using webs to stick it back together. He landed on the top of the bell tower, ducking under the bell to get to the other side. Kris took off his mask, looking out to watch the man fight the monster. It hit the tower again, and it started to collapse again. He shot a web, attaching it to two buildings across from him. The monster slammed Mysterio into the bell tower, throwing Kris off balance and slamming his head hitting the bell, making it ring. 

He groaned from the pain. The tower cracked again, pulling him by his webs across it. He braced his feet against the floor, but it made his head hit the bell again. 

“I swear, I’m going to get a cluster headache at this rate…” He muttered. The webs descend from the tower. Kris shot new webs, trying to hold the tower up. The webbing pulled him to a corner of the bell tower. He braced his feet against it.

“Who is that guy?” Someone asked.

“I don’t know, but he’s kicking that water’s ass,” Brad responded.

It wasn’t long before the man of mystery destroyed the water monster by using his green smoke to split it in two, making the water monster evaporate. Kris was still trying to keep the bell tower from falling and causing more damage. He yelled out as the tower crumbled. Like what he wanted, the bell didn’t crumble into any buildings. Just into the nearby water, was all.

The man landed and people began cheering. Kris got up, dusting his clothes and combing his hair with his fingers, because it was previously a mess after the water monster slammed him at the bridge. He suddenly remembered the necklace, so he quickly took it out, checking out to see if the Lily necklace had broken during the fight. He sighed in relief when he saw that it was still intact. The man saluted the crowd as they cheer for him before taking off and flying away in a cloud of green smoke.

~~~

A handful of students were watching a television news report about Mysterio.

“It’s aliens. It has to be,” Claude commented, knowing full-well that wasn’t aliens, but to not arouse suspicion, he acted dumb, all while looking at the news through his computer. He could never be ‘too careful’. Emma joined him.

“Buzzfeed says there’s a sailor named Morris Bench who was exposed to an experimental underwater generator and got hydro powers,” Brad mentioned, walking around the room.

“Yeah, you should _definitely_ believe everything you read on the internet,” Gwen said sarcastically, sitting at the stairs.

“Spider-Man and Kid-Arachnid could take him,” Brad scoffed.

“What do you think it is?” Mr. Harrington asked Mr. Ludwig.

“Vu Know, peing ein man of science…” Mr. Ludwig leans toward Mr. Harrington to whisper. “...Vitches.”

While everyone was discussing the man and/or the water creature, Kris called Peter.

“ _So, who was that guy you were with? Was that Doctor Strange?_ ” Peter asked as he experimented with Dr. Octavius.

“Uh, no. I don't know who that was. He was a new guy. I was trying to help him, but…” Kris answered.

“ _Yeah, hold on a minute—Doc, the goggles’re there. Calling Kris at the moment—So, uh, how's the plan going?_ ”

Kris leaned against the phone box. “Well, there’s some…” He turned to Stan. “Some setbacks, for sure.”

“ _Don’t overthink it—just trust your instincts and you’ll be fine._ ”

“Oh. And how’s the Doc? He hasn’t been getting any dangerous experiments again, did he?” Kris asked as he twirled the landline cord.

“ _Not anything too dangerous. Though, there’s this one time where Doctor Ocatvius almost blew up the lab, but we’re good._ ” Peter explained, looking into the code he’s doing. “ _Oh, and did I mention? We’re close to getting a breakthrough!_ ”

Kris’ eyes brighten up. “No way. _What?!_ ”

“ _Yeah! Doc’s working on the prosthetics—right now, it’s still a work in progress. But if we spend a little more time on it, we can move on to try and improve the limbs for our client. For now, though, it’s working brilliantly!_ ” Peter excitedly said.

“That’s _insane!_ ” Kris shouted, but not loud enough for the others to hear.

“ _Parker!_ ” A distant voice called.

“ _Oh. Be right there, Doc!_ ” Peter shouted back. “ _Okay, Kris. Gotta go. Bye._ ”

“Bye,” Kris turned to the group and sighed. 

“Who is that guy?” Emma questioned.

“He’s like Ironman and Thor rolled into one.” Stan commented, folding his arms.

“He's alright. He's no Spider-Man, or… or Kid-Arachnid.” Brad mentioned.

“What is it with you and Spider-Man?” Gwen asked.

“What? He's just awesome, okay? He protects the neighborhood, and you know, he's inspiring. He inspires me to be a better man.” Brad deflected.

At this point, Kris reenters the cluster of students. “Sup, dweeb. Thought you drowned.” Brad said. Kris just brushed it off by smiling and giving him a thumbs up. 

“Sounds like his name is Mysterio,” Claude commented.

“L'uomo del Misterio is Italian for ‘man of mystery’. They don't actually know who he is.” Lysithea mentioned.

“Mysterio…” Claude muttered.

“Cool name.” Claude and Emma chorused.

“Aw!” 

“So, um, how much did you actually see?” Kris asked Lysithea.

“Not much. I was running the whole time.” Lysithea responded.

“Right. Me too. I was also running... away.” Kris spluttered. “So, uh, Paris tomorrow. Go to the Eiffel Tower. ‘Should be great.”

“It'll be my favorite destination on the whole trip,” Lysithea added.

~~~

“What are you gonna do about the water monster?” Claude asked.

“Nothing. it's dead. And besides, that Mysterio guy's all over it. Look... I just wanna spend some time with Lysithea. We were talking about Paris and... I think she really likes me." Kris babbled as he grabs his toothpaste and brush.

“That's nice. 'Reminds me of when Emma and I first fell in love. I had just finished my first fruit cobbler, right--” Claude said, before getting hit with a dart in the neck by Nick Fury - who sits in a shaded corner of the room in a chair.

“So nice to finally meet you… Kid-Arachnid.” Nick said. Kris, who just placed the toothbrush on his tongue, turned around and said,

“You're Nick Fury.” Kris gasped. He spits out the toothpaste and turns back to Fury. “And you just shot Claude!”

“It's just a mild tranquilizer. He'll be alright. The important thing is, you're here. I tried to bring you here. You avoided me, and now, you're here. What a coincidence.” Nick deadpanned, looking straight into Kris’ eyes and making him extremely uncomfortable.

“Wait. Was this a coincidence?”

“A week ago, a village in Mexico was wiped out by a cyclone. Witnesses say that the cyclone had a face.” Nick said, ignoring Kris.

“Now you're avoiding me…” Kris thought to himself.

“Three days later, a similar event in Morocco. A village was--” Fury stated before being interrupted by Mr. Harrington.

“Just making the rounds. See if anyone needs any emotional counseling after today's traumatic event.” said, completely oblivious to the previous voices AND the hologram that was big enough to be seen slightly.

“No. we're... we're okay. We're fine, thank you.” Kris added.

“Great. Cause I'm not qualified to actually... Oh, he's passed out. I'm not really qualified to do it anyway, so... good night.” Mr. Harrington said.

“That was my teacher, sorry about that. You were saying?" Kris sits down on the bed and listens.

“A village was destroyed by what may well be another world-threatening…”

“Hey, poys! Zat canal vater totay vas filled vith dangerous pacderia.." Mr. Ludwig interjected.

Fury, annoyed, complained. “Another person touches that door, you and I are going to attend a funeral.” Fury stood up. “Suit up.”

“…let me know if eizer of vu are fomiding--” Mr. Ludwig added, still talking.


	21. Multiple Realities / Journeys To Prague Are... Interesting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick assigned Kris a mission to assist Mysterio in taking down the elementals. Kris declined and the next day, Kris encountered more issues. The chances of that break depleted completely, but he might as well go with it.

Kris, now in his Kid-Arachnid suit, was holding the windshield of the boat, looking around at Venice. Venice at night was pretty. He should go out with Lysithea here sometime during their visit to Venice. But the chances were slim, thanks to the water monster. “Stark left these for you,” Nick said, passing Kris a small box.

“Really?” Kris looks at it, still unopened. He wasn’t sure if he was ready yet. Still, he opened up the box. Inside the box was Tony's old glasses. The velvet lining of the case behind the glasses said, “Stark Industries” He remembered when Tony wore them while working on new Iron Man armor. Though, he didn’t know if he _should_ wear it. It didn’t belong to him—even if Tony basically gave it to him. It just didn’t feel right.

“‘Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.’” He gazed at Kris. Kris returned the gaze. “Stark said you wouldn't get that because it's not a Star Wars reference.” Nick chuckled a little. Kris continued to look at the box, as if it was something precious.

~~~

Kris followed Nick into a sewer system of sorts. Except, it wasn’t a sewer, it was a lair, clad with all sorts of different technology. There were monitors, servers, basically all the stuff you’d expect in a lair. “You can lose the mask. Everyone here's seen you without it. You’d only be feigning anonymity and breathing through spandex for no good reason.” Kris paused for a second, and took off the mask, fixing his hair.

“You already know some of these people, the one brooding over there is Dimitri, and this… is Mr. Beck.” Nick told Kris. He stepped aside so Beck could enter Kris’ view. 

“You’re Mysterio,” Kris whispered, with a look of awe, like a kid seeing Iron Man in person for the first time.

“What?” Beck asked.

Kris quickly shook his head and shrugged.“Doesn’t matter. It’s just what my friends have been calling you.”

Beck walked up to him. The both of them shook hands. “Well, you can call me Quentin.”

“I’m Kristian. Kristian Echarri. But, uh, you can call me Kris for short. That’s what my friends and family usually do, anyway.” Kris continued to look at Mysterio. “You look… Familiar. Like, I’ve most likely seen you somewhere.” Kris commented. It really felt like he'd seen him before. It could be a possibility that he was the guy that stared at him. “…were you the guy that was staring right at me?”

“Yeah.” Quentin said. “Had to see if you were good enough to be part of the team, but you were on your vacation, so I shrugged it off. But you _did_ handle yourself well out there today. I saw what you did with the tower. We could use someone like you in my world.”

“Thanks.” Kris smiled. He shook his head and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion once the realization hit him. “I’m sorry. _Your_ world?”

“Mr. Beck _is_ from Earth. Just not _yours,_ ” Fury answered. Kris furrowed his eyebrows further at Nick’s comment. “Yours”? That was completely weird.

“There are multiple realities, Kris. This is Earth, Dimension one hundred ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine. I'm from Earth eight-hundred and thirty three,” Quentin explained. Kris took a few steps closer to the table, excited.

“I’m sorry, you're saying there's a _multiverse?_ ” Kris asked, geeking out at his new discovery. “‘Cause I thought that was just theoretical. That completely changes how we understand the initial singularity. We’re talking about an internal inflation system and how does that even work with all the quantum—? It’s _insane—_ ” He babbled before looking at everyone else. They looked back at him, unamused. “Sorry, it’s just... really, really cool.” 

“Don’t ever apologize for being the smartest one in the room,” Quentin beamed. Kris breathed to try and keep up with the oxygen he lost from the babbling. He smiled back at Quentin.

“Anyway…” Maria turned on the table’s hologram. A hologram for a black hole displayed on the table. Kris looked at the holograms with intent as it slowly formed into the monsters of all different elements. Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. He could only recognize the water monster, because he encountered it earlier that day.

“They were born in stable orbits within black holes. Creatures formed from the primary elements: Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. The Science Division had a technical name. We just called them Elementals,” Quentin explained. 

“But what about Heart?” Kris asked.

“ _What?_ ” Nick, Maria, and Quentin all collectively asked.

“When their powers _combine_ —”

“This isn’t Captain Planet, Kid. The next one’s going to be wind. And it’ll take the both of us to break it.” Quentin interjected, visibly trying so hard to hide the grin he had, covering his mouth or wiping it. Not just from the Captain Planet remark, but also the fact that he said ‘it’ll take both of us to break it.’

“Not a problem. I can break wind in my sleep.” Kris commented, putting a hand to his chest, as if it was one of his proudest achievements.

“Anyway, versions of them exist across our mythologies,” Maria continued.

“Turns out, the myths were real.” Quentin also added, looking intently at the holograms. Kris turned back to the holograms.

“Like Thor. Thor was a myth, and now we study him in my physics class.” Kris added in an attempt to contribute to the conversation.

Nick moved over to his chair. “These ‘myths’ are threats.”

“They first materialized on my earth many years ago. We mobilized and fought them, but with each battle, they grew, got stronger. I was part of the last battalion left trying to stop them. All we did was delay the inevitable.” Quentin explained, slowly looking down as the hologram of the earth slowly painted itself red.

“The Elementals are here now, attacking the same coordinates. Our satellites confirm it,” Maria explained.

“So thank Mr. Beck for destroying the other three. There’s only one left: Fire,” Nick added.

“The strongest of them all. The one that destroyed my Earth. It's the one that took my family…” Quentin said grimly, softly rubbing the ring he had as the earth in front of him crumbled.

“I’m sorry…” Kris whispered.

"And it will be in Prague in approximately 48 hours,” Maria stated.

“We have one mission: kill it. And you're coming with us.” Nick said.

“What, what, what?” Kris stuttered. “I’m sorry. Did you say Prague?” He laughed nervously. He had to change the subject so he could at _least_ increase that slim-to-nil chance of getting that vacation he had been longing for since he found out he was gone for five years. “Mr. Fury, this all seems like bigtime, you know, huge superhero kinda stuff. And, I mean, I’m just a friendly neighborhood Kid-Arachnid, sir.”

“Bitch, _please._ You’ve been to space,” Fury deadpanned.

“I know, but that wasn’t on purpose.” Kris moved over to Nick. “Sir—come on. There’s gotta be someone else you can use. What about Thor?” 

“Off-world.”

“Okay, um… Doctor Strange?”

“Unavailable.”

“Peter?”

“Also unavailable.”

“Captain Marvel?”

“Don’t invoke her name.”

This was a way he could try and to trick them into changing the subject“...Hotel?”

“No.”

“Aww…”

Kris ran his fingers through his hair, thinking up with more ideas. “Uh—Black Panther?”

Fury swiftly placed a hand on his eyepatch. “No cats!”

“Superman!”

“Restraining order on the Justice League,” Fury responded.

“Uh—the local authorities and first response teams? You know, the people who actually get _paid_ to _do_ this stuff?” 

A few beats passed. “ _Local authorities?_ Hill! Get a load of this kid!” Nick chuckled.

“That’s cute, Kristian,” Maria commented.

“I just wanna give him a big hug!” Nick joked. Kris rolled his eyes.

“Sir, look, I _really_ wanna help, I do. But if my cousins, who, by the way, are now _seven_ years older than me, or Peter, finds out that I left my class trip, they're gonna _kill_ me. And if I’m seen like this in Europe,”—Kris gestured toward his suit—“after the Washington Monument, my whole class will figure out who I am and then—and then the whole world will figure out who I am, then I’m done.” 

“Okay. I understand.” Nick said.

Kris blinked. He glanced at the side then back to Fury. “Wait, what?”

“Why don't you get back before your teachers miss you and become suspicious.” Nick turned to Dimitri, who sat behind Maria. “Dimitri. Take him back to the hotel, please.”

“Thank you, Mr. Fury. And, uh, good luck.” Kris wore his mask as he walked back out the way he walked in. He stopped at Beck.

“See ya, Kid.” Quentin nodded.

“Yeah, see you.” Kris continued walking, adjusting the mask. “Bye, ma’am.”

“Yeah.”

~~~

“Hey, man. Are you sure you’re good?” Kris asked the second he exited the hotel, gripping Claude’s shoulder.

“Oh, dude, I'm _fine._ Seriously, getting tranq’d in the neck by Nick Fury, probably the coolest thing to ever happen to me anyway.” Claude answered, patting Kris’ back.

“It _is_ pretty awesome,” Kris agreed, the two doing the handshake they've been doing since 5th grade. He looked around, betting on the fact Nick most likely sent a few people to spy on him. “I’m just happy I don’t have to go to Prague.”

“Yeah, can’t wait to go to Paris!” Claude mentioned with an excited look.

“Good news! We're going to Prague! Huh!” Mr. Harrington exclaimed.

“What?” Kris and the other students collectively said. 

“Yeah! Tour company called, they upgraded us.” Kris and Claude exchanged glances with each other. “You should’ve heard me on the phone with ‘em—I really gave them hell.”

Mr. Ludwig looked at Mr. Harrington with a straight face. “All I heard vas crying.” (All I heard was crying.)

“Kris, wha—what’s going on?” Claude asked, turning to Kris. He had been dreading this moment since last night. His stomach churned as he looked at the bus. Dimitri was there, holding a sign that said, “Midtown High”. 

“... I think Nick Fury just hijacked our summer vacation…”

~~~

“Yo, what's up, Brad Mob? It's your boy, the big B. Cruisin’ through the Alps with my private driver, Dimitri.” Brad said, Instagram live-ing the whole thing. Dimitri, slightly annoyed, shook his head.

Kris was scrolling on his phone for romantic places in Prague, sitting at the back while listening to the Umbrella Academy playlist. It was genuinely a good playlist to listen to. Especially during long bus rides across countries. He lifted his phone and caught sight of the case that held the glasses Tony previously owned. He pulled it from his bag, removed his own glasses, and opened it, putting on his mentor’s glasses. He stops to look at the note. Kris pulls it out. 

“‘For the next Tony Stark, I trust you, say... EDITH.” Kris muttered. Almost immediately, his glasses’ lenses turned blue, and a bunch of Interfaces showed up in the glasses. Kris looked around in amazement.

“ _Stand by for retinal and biometric scan. Retinal and biometric scan accepted._ ”

“Hello?”

“ _Hello, Kristian. I am EDITH. Tony Stark’s augmented-reality security and defense system._ ”

“Huh. So, he made you for me?” Kris pushed up the glasses, wondering how he was able to hear it if it was just glasses. Most likely, the speakers were probably hidden in the glasses somewhere, and were too small to be seen. Not even his enhanced senses could see the glasses. 

“ _No. But you have access to all of Tony’s protocols. Would you like to see what I can do? EDITH stands for: Even Dead, I'm The Hero. Tony loved his acronyms._ ” EDITH explained to Kris.

Kris chuckled at the acronym, remembering how many robots he had seen made from Tony that had acronyms. He smiled. “Yeah, yeah, he did.”

“ _I have access to the entire Stark Global Security network including multiple defense satellites as well as back doors to all major telecommunication networks._ ”

“Huh, so , like, an—an incredibly advanced AI Hive Mind?” Kris commented. EDITH showed him all of what everyone was doing, completely ignoring what he asked. “I guess not. But whoah, that’s cool. Is Lysithea texting?” Kris wondered, leaning forward. She was just reading a book and discussing it with Gwen. Or looked like it, anyway. He couldn’t tell. “No. Don't look at it. That’s±—that’s wrong. Very wrong.”

~~~

“Petrol and toilets. Ten minutes!” Dimitri stated. Everyone went out. Followed by Kris, though, Dimitri stopped him. He gestured to a building with an open door where a stern-looking woman in all black was waiting. Kris awkwardly glanced at him and headed to what seemed to be the bathhouse. 

“Hello. Um… I’m Kristian Echarri,” Kris said the second he rounded the corner. He held out his hand for the woman to shake.

“Take off your clothes,” The lady said with a straight face.

“Excuse me—?”

“You told Fury Kid-Arachnid cannot be seen in Europe. So I made you this. Another suit.” The woman said, handing him a black suit, ignoring Kris’ question.

“Oh. Uh, thank you.” Kris took it. “You sure it fits me, or…”

“Take off your clothes.”

“Okay… uh, can I just… do it in the bathroom…?”’ Kris said, feeling completely awkward. This would definitely be a weird thing to see if you were to run into it out of nowhere. And he wasn’t taking any chances that a certain Stan might walk in and take a picture to show to Lysithea, therefore jeopardizing the relationship they already had going. 

The lady sighed. “Fine. Hurry up.”

~~~

Kris put on the suit. “Kinda… okay, I like black, but… ‘s pretty tight…” Kris commented, pulling out the small wedge he had. Brad walked in on him. He awkwardly stared at Brad for a few seconds. “ _Uh…_ ” 

“Hold on. I recognize that voice!” Brad exclaimed. "You’re _Kid-Arachnid!_ " Brad said, freaking and geeking out about meeting his hero. Like a child in a candy store. And even _with_ the new suit, he could tell it’s him because he’s THAT big of a fan.

“Oh, no…” Kris whispered. His heart sank.

Brad walked up to Kris quickly, grabbed his shoulder like as if they were pals, and snagged a selfie with him. “I’m going to tell _everyone_ how _I_ met Kid-Arachnid on a _school trip!_ ”

Kris proceeded to freak out a bit. Brad may not be smart enough to put two and two together, but Lysithea and everyone else certainly will.


	22. Identity Protecting / Kid-Arachnid Knows How To Do It!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Kris managed to delete the selfie Brad had with himself as Kid-Arachnid, they reached Prague. Superpowers can be both a gift, and a curse. And right now, it's a curse.

“EDITH?” Kris said, visibly worried and leaning against the window so that no one could hear him. “Is there a way you could delete a photo on Brad's phone?” 

“ _Kristian, I’m having difficulty hearing you. Can you please speak up?_ ”

“Um… Brad Malkinson. He has a photo of me?”

“ _Brad Malkinson—is he a target?_ ”

“Is Brad a target? Um…” Kris peered over his seat, watching as Brad smiled at his phone. The interface displayed the image he had with his alter ego. He glanced at Lysithea and went back to leaning against the window. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, he’s a target, he’s a target.”

“ _Copy that. Target is: Brad Malkinson. Initiating strike._ ”

Kris’ heart dropped. “Initiating what now?”

“ _Intercept point determined. Releasing kill vehicle._ ” Kris blinked.

“EDITH—” Kris looked for options to distract the whole bus as he observed the sudden meteor-like object flying toward the bus. He removed his glasses in a worry. “Oh my goodness…”

“Dope glasses, Echarri!” Brad snagged the glasses from his hands. “How’d you pay for these?”

“Brad, give ‘em back! Brad. Give. It. Back.”

“No, no, no—I’m barely paying you a compliment! I’m asking where’d you buy—” 

Kris slapped Flash on accident. “Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry…” He removed the glasses from Brad’s face and placed it back on his. “EDITH—Don’t kill Brad.”

“ _Kristian, do you want me to cancel the drone strike on Brad Malkinson?_ ”

“Did you just punch Brad?” Gwen asked.

Kris furrowed his eyebrows. “No?”

“ _Firing._ ” Kris swiftly shot the wheel and pulled. The drone just shot the side view mirror, as everyone started to fall to the left. Dimitri made a sharp turn and dented the railings that protected them from falling.

He leaned over to Claude, who was in the seats behind him. Luckily, Emma was looking to the left, wondering what happened to notice Kris. “Hey. Hey, hey, hey, hey.”

“What?”

“I need you to cause a distraction,” Kris said. He gestured Claude to lean closer so that Emma wouldn’t hear in on their conversation. “Okay. So, here’s the context: Some random, European woman gives me this suit, this new suit, and then Brad walks in just as I finished and took a selfie! And now, because of that, I accidentally released a killer drone on Brad—on accident—and now, we’re here.”

“I got you, bro.” Claude said with a smirk. “GUYS! LOOK AT THE BABY MOUNTAIN GOATS!” He hollered, cupping his mouth so that his voice could be slightly louder.

Practically everyone leaned in towards the mountain sides. Kris jumped up the hatch of the bus and shot webs at the drone. One missed, and the other hit the drone, and the drone exploded. Kris landed near the edge of the bus. He scurried over to the hatch, removing his web-shooters, and dropped down. His hair was messy, but a good-ish kind of messy. He breathed swiftly, trying hide that he was breathing so fast by doing it lightly.

“COME ON, YOU GUYS ARE MISSING OUT! LOOK CLOSER!” Claude shouted. 

And it just so happened that Brad dropped his phone in his hand. The _problem_ was that it slid toward the side everyone else was leaning on during Claude’s ruse. Kris quickly slid on his web-shooters and kept looking back and forth to see if anyone else was looking, quickly webbed the phone. 

But of course, the webbing hit a student’s shoe. “ _Dangit!_ ” Kris aggressively whispered. He crawled through, getting kicked in the head a few times, but cut the webbing from the shoe and snagged the phone quickly. He crawled back to his seat and pulled out a comic, pretending to read, but he was actually deleting the photo. 

The ruckus died down, so Kris quickly slid the phone back into Brad’s hand without anyone noticing. He slumped back onto his seat, sighing with relief. “Okay… next time, you should probably specify what you mean, EDITH…”

~~~

After what seemed like hours, Kris woke up. It was already nearing the night. He saw Prague in the distance. But it was still a good few hours before they'd finally reach the place. Kris yawned and stretched himself. The bus kept driving, so he decided to listen to Julie and the Phantoms while waiting. 

When the bus arrived at Prague, it stopped at a fancy hotel. The class headed inside the lobby and looked around. Practically everything was marble. Not to mention there was a man who played on the grand piano. 

“This is fancy as heck,” Claude whispered to himself.

“It’s beautiful,” Emma commented.

“Speak for yourselves. I’m home,” Brad boasted, raising his hands like he had seen these kinds of rich hotels before.

“Everyone, get settled in, rest up because tonight, big surprise, is Prague's annual... Carnival of Lights!” Mr. Harrington announced to the cohort. “In fact, you guys got your own rooms. If you wanna share rooms with your buddies, that’s fine too.” everyone got slightly excited. “We got the whole 3rd floor to ourselves, too!”

“Sweet!” everyone else said.

“You guys got 2 hours,” Mr. Harrington added. Kris climbed up the stairs, skipping two to three steps on the way. He got to his room and placed his stuff in his room.

He booked it downstairs and ran to a pastry shop, and bought Trdelníks. He kind of embarrassed himself with his pronunciation of 'Trdelník'. He pronounced it as 'turtle neck' back there. 

“Lysithea? I, uh got Trdelníks…” Kris called.

“Give me a minute!” She replied. She opened the door and said, "Oh, Trdelníks. I heard you say turtle necks!” Lysithea exclaimed. Kris puffed his cheeks slightly in an attempt to hide the blush he had, purely out of embarrassment. Lysithea stared at the other one on his hand. “You’re not gonna eat the other one?”

“No, I'm good. You can have the rest.” Kris responded. Lysithea awkwardly took it and nodded, as if to silently say, ‘thank you’. “You look pretty—” Lysithea took it and quickly closed the door. He sighed. “ _Amazing_ job, Kris… freaking ‘turtle necks’… and embarrassing yourself…” 

“So, man, how’s the plan going so far?” Claude asked, patting his back.

“It's going... Mediocre???” Kris replied, clearly puzzled on how he should answer.

“Oh. Well, I believe in you, man.”

~~~

“Echarri? Echarri!” Kris snapped out of his stoning and looked up quickly. “That thing is going to be here in a few hours. Are we _boring_ you?” Nick said.

“He’s not ‘bored’. He’s just thinking about how you kidnapped him.” Quentin defended Kris.

“He had obstacles. _I_ removed them.” 

“They still won't evacuate the city…” Maria stated.

“Idiots…” Nick whispered.

“So, what's the plan, Echarri?”

“I will be in the cathedral tower, keeping watch of the fire monster. When that shows up, I’ll radio you guys, and then Mr. Beck and I—” Kris took a few steps forward as he slowly gained confidence in his planning.

“My name is Mysterio,” Quentin said with a small grin. Kris chuckled, smiling back.

“Right, so that’s when _Mysterio_ and I will move in,” Kris added.

“Kristian, listen to me. The best hope you have, the only hope, is to stop it here now, no matter what the cost. Maneuver it away from civilians if you can, but most importantly, keep it away from metal. If it gets too big, it’ll be able to draw power from the earth’s core. After that, there’s no way to stop it.” Quentin explained.

“Hey, man. My friends are here. And I can’t help but think we’re putting them in danger.” Kris muttered.

“You’re worried about hurting your friends. You? Called a drone strike on your own school tour bus? Stark gave you a multi- _billion_ dollar, AR tactical intelligence system, and the first thing you do with it? Is try to blow up your friends. It’s clear to me, that _you,_ were not ready for this.” Nick reprimanded Kris. Kris nodded, looking down.

~~~

Kris sat alone on a rooftop. Mysterio flew up towards him with his helmet on. “Look, Fury asked me to come up here and see how you were doing. He just, he felt bad about snapping at you.” 

“ _Really?_ ” Kris asked, questioning what Beck said. It definitely didn’t feel like what Fury would do. At all.

“You guys _do_ have sarcasm on this earth, right?” Quentin asked. Kris chuckled a bit, looking down. “How’re you feeling?”

“Uh… I didn't think I was gonna have to save the world this summer. I know that makes me sound like such a jerk. I just... I had this plan with this girl that I really like, and… now it's all ruined…” Kris looked at the city as he explained, admiring Prague and its beauty. It was honestly prettier than Venice, in his opinion. Mysterio hovered beside him, removing his helmet and sitting down beside him. 

“You’re not a _jerk_ for wanting a normal life, kid. It’s a hard path. You see things, you do things… Make choices. People look up to you… Even if you win a battle sometimes, they die.” Mysterio turned to Kris. Kris nodded. “I like you, Kristian. You’re a good kid. There’s a part of me that wants me to tell you, just... turn around, run away from all this. And then, there’s another part of me that knows what we’re about to fight. What’s at stake. And I’m glad you're here,” Mysterio told Kris, giving him a warm smile.

“Me too, but…”

“You’re worried about your friends?” Mysterio patted his back.

“Yeah. I just always feel like I'm putting them in danger.” Kris muttered.

“Look, just... Get them inside and keep them in a safe place, for just a few hours. It’ll be alright.” A few beats pass. “Tony Stark. Why does he _mean_ so much to you?”

Kris went silent for a bit. He took a deep breath. “Because I lost two father figures before. _I_ was responsible for one of their deaths, because I was too… _selfish._ My father left me at my Aunt’s house. Said it would be a while, but… he didn’t return. Received the news about his and my mom’s death a few weeks later. My grandfather on my dad’s side? It was because I was supposed to win some Science Fair Prize Money, but the guy barely paid me. Next thing I knew, he was robbed. I could’ve stopped the thief, but I wanted revenge, and I stepped aside, letting the robber go. Then… he got _shot._ My aunt died during the Battle Of New York, but I never really blamed them, the Avengers. It wasn’t really their faults, after all. Then it left me with this… sort of… gaping hole in my life. Then, one day, Mr. Stark came into my life, and it’s like… the hole was filled. Not all the way, because nobody can replace the people I lost. But I grew attached to the feeling of mentorship and fatherhood Mr. Stark brought, and… when he died, I blamed myself, feeling responsible yet again for the death of him.”

Quentin kept quiet for a while. He didn't know what to say at the moment, but Kris, surprisingly, kept quiet. Not shedding a single tear or anything. “Well, it’ll be okay. Everything will be.”

“It’s really nice… to have somebody to talk to about, superhero stuff here, you know?”

“Anytime. And hey… We survive this, you’ll have all summer to kill Brad,” Quentin joked, making Kris chuckle softly. 

“See you out there,” Kris said as he dropped down. A pair of elderly people saw him. “Scusi! Sorry, that's... Italian.” He rummaged through his bag and took out his glasses.

“EDITH?”

“ _Hello, Kristian._ ”

“Hey—um, I need to find a way to keep my friends inside for the next few hours.”

“ _Let's see what we can do._ ”

~~~

“Good news, we're going to the opera!” Mr. Harrington explained. Everyone else groaned because they wanted to go to the festival.

“The opera?!”

“What happened to the carnival?” Gwen asked.

“Don’t look at me.” Mr. Ludwig said.

Claude slowly turned to Kris, who had his eyes widened and had a very concerned look. The two of them slowly nodded, having a sort of internal agreement without nothing but a nod. “This is upgrade living, guys. Come on. The tour company just gave us these tickets. For free! Do you have any idea how much opera tickets cost?” 

“No. Because _none_ of us have ever wanted to go to the opera. Ever.” Brad deadpanned.

“Uh, well, I think this'll be culturally enriching for us.” Claude blurted out. Everyone stared daggers at him, but he didn't really mind. It was their safety that mattered to him and Kris.

Mr. Harrington pointed at him.“Thank you, Claude. Everyone, this is going to be, maybe, the best four hours of our whole trip.”

“ _Four hours?!_ ”

“Guys, I really think this is going to be fun. Seriously.”

~~~

“I bet you’re all glad I had you pack a nice outfit!” Mr. Harrington happily said as he fixed his tie.

“Yeah, because we'd much rather go to a four-hour opera than go to the biggest party in the world,” Brad replied sarcastically, pointing at the fireworks behind him.

“Akain, don't look at me,” Mr. Ludwig said.

“ _Echarri, you copy? Comm check, one, two._ ” Kris fixed his hair nervously as he walked. He could feel Brad staring at him weird, even if he (Brad) was in front of him. 

~~~

“Lucky for us, we got the best seats in the house. The front!” Mr. Harrington exclaimed. Everyone followed him down the aisle. Kris, the band geek that he was, could hear the orchestra tuning from inside. He missed the performances he used to play with his band back in Middle School. (He was still outside because he had to talk with Maria.)

“Hey. I’ll save you a seat.” Brad said, being the ‘nice’ guy that he is. Lysithea smiled and nodded. But under that smile and nod was just complete weirded-out-ness. It was not like Brad to do these kinds of stuff.

Kris walked in to see Lysithea standing alone. He walked up to her, clutching his messenger bag strap with both hands. “You look really pretty,” Kris said, and he was proud of himself for making the first move. Especially since he had been usually waiting for her to talk first, because: He doesn’t want to seem clingy or those douchey white boys.

“And therefore I have value?” Lysithea deadpanned.

“No. No, that's not what I meant at all. I was just—” 

“I’m messing with you.” She responded to stop Kris from going on a never-ending babble. And the two shared a laugh. It was more like small exhales and smiling, but it still counted-ish. “Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome,” Kris replied. He resisted the urge to fix his hair only because he didn’t want to seem too showy for his liking.

“You look pretty too,” Lysithea responded.

“Thank _you._ ” He responded. Kris and Lysithea noticed opera glasses, thanks to Emma, who exclaimed about their existence in the theatre.

“Want to go in on a pair?” She asked, shrugging.

“You mean, like, sit next to each other?” Kris responded with another question.

“Yeah,” Lysithea responded. Kris gave his best attempt to smile.

“ _Are you in position?_ ”

"No," Kris responded to the comm, and not to Lysithea. But she didn’t know that he was responding to the comms, so she got misled. The cherry on top of that cake was that he was smiling while saying ‘no’, which just amplified the effect from ‘bad’ to ‘worse’.

“Okay, no… You don't want to sit next to me, or no, you just don't want the glasses?” Lysithea asked.

“ _Why the hell not? Echarri?_ ”

Kris immediately removed the earpiece on his right ear. “I didn’t mean that, uh, uh… If you go ahead, I’ll grab us a pair. And you can, uh, have my jacket.”

Lysithea bit her cheeks, trying to hide a smile. “I’ll save you a seat next to me,” She responded, wearing the jacket. It was oversized, but Kris wouldn’t be lying if she was cuter with an oversized jacket.

“Awesome,” Kris commented, trying his best to force a laugh and not make it as awkward. Then he realized that either way, it’ll make it more awkward than he likes it. So he stopped.

“There’s a lot of seats, so I’ll be up there.” Lysithea clarified before walking off to the front row.

“ _Echarri?_ ”

“No, I’m coming, I’m…” Kris answered the comm, bending over slightly so no one would hear him. Claude walked up to him, and he turned to him. “Hey, I gotta go. Could you just tell Lysithea that I'm sick or something?”

“Okay. Be careful, and Kris, whatever you do, _please_ steer the monster away from the opera house.” Claude told Kris, gripping both of his shoulders. 

“Yeah, Claude. I know. Gotta go.” Kris said. He started running, but his hand stuck to the pillar he held. He stood there watched helplessly as the orchestra started to play. He breathed heavily, and his hair was a mess. This was the second time that he stood her up. And he didn’t like that. For once, just _once,_ he’d like it if he didn’t have a perfect moment with Lysithea, only to stand her up. First Homecoming dance, now this. Perfect. Just what he needed to climb up that social ladder.

Brad stood up and stared at him and flipped him off, perfectly timed with the music swelling, and sat next to Lysithea, which very much made her uncomfortable.

Kris _really_ wanted to run back. But he couldn’t. In fact, he was ready to throw hands with Brad the second he flipped him off. But Fury interrupted him. “Echarri! You better be on your way!”

“Coming…”


	23. Mr. One Hundred And One / Power To The People

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once Kris found a way to keep his class indoors, he and Mysterio teamed up to fight the fire monster in Prague. But looks can be deceiving.

Kris stuck to the cathedral just as he said, fireworks booming behind him. He was still a bit salty about the fact he had to leave Lysithea, but in the words of his younger self, ‘It’s my responsibility’. He cursed his younger self’s words. “All right. I'm in the position. As soon as I see something, Beck, I'll, uh, let you know.” Kris stated.

“ _Roger that._ ”

“ _How’s the suit?_ ” Nick asked.

“Ah, the suit’s great. It’s awesome.” Kris responded. He stood up a little bit and pulled another wedge. They _really_ should have checked if it fit him _before_ they ask him to wear it. Because right now, it’s _extremely_ uncomfortable. “Little tight around the old web-shooter…”

“ _Echarri!_ ”

“Okay, I’ll be quiet…”

Kris stood there for what seemed like a few minutes. He kinda wished he brought his switch along to entertain himself with. To preoccupy himself with something while waiting, he started listening to Carnaval Del Barrio, only because it seemed to fit the moment.

Apparently, Lysithea was there. He could spot her thanks to that oversized jacket she still wore. The possibility of her looking for Kris was pretty fifty-ish. The fifty-percent being her looking for him because Claude told her she was sick. But he wasn’t counting on that. Instead, he assumed she was out for fresh air, seeing as she had to sit with Brad, _and_ he ditched her. It was understandable for her to be mad.

Just as Kris sat back down, a bit of floor started to crack. Lava, or a molten substance wrapped around a statue, covering it. A beat passed, and it exploded, and out came the fire monster.

“Okay, he’s here! Beck, are you ready? You know what to do!” Kris shouted, getting ready to leap into action. The familiar rumbling noise could be heard from a distance for Kris. He turned to see Mysterio flying down, leaving a trail of green smoke behind him.

“ _On your lead, Kid-Arachnid._ ”

"Help!" Emma shouted. But the sounds of the lava monster’s screeching and destruction masked her shouts and cries for help. Mysterio landed in front of the monster and readied his magic. 

“You’re up, kid,” Quentin said as he prepared his magic with his green triangular smoke on his hands. Kris swung in and smashed a tent into the fire monster. It didn’t do anything, but it distracted the monster, as Mysterio hit him with a blast of green magic. Kris immediately webbed the fire hydrant nearby and yanked it. The water hit the fire monster but evaporated into a puff of water vapor from the sweltering heat of it.

"Wait, wait… Is that…? Do you think that’s Spider-Man?" Emma asked Claude. Claude turned to her. Okay, at least she didn’t think of Kid-Arachnid.

"Uh-uh, no, no, no. It’s actually a European rip-off version. I actually read about him the other day. It’s not him." Claude explained, stuttering a lot out of fear, shaking his head.

The molten monster immediately went for Kris. Not even Mysterio’s powerful blasts of magic could stop him. Kris managed to dodge… Into the carousel. Kris jumped away, but the monster didn’t follow him—instead, it absorbed the carousel, making it a lot bigger. “No, Beck! He's got the carousel! He's getting bigger!” 

Emma turned to Claude. “What’s his name? What's his name?”

“Uh… N-nigh-n-night-night… Monkey.”

“ _Night Monkey?_ ” Claude nodded swiftly. Emma looked down on Kris and started waving her arms. “Night Monkey! Night Monkey, help!” 

“Yeah. Night… Night Monkey…” Claude reluctantly said, not shouting at all. Purely out of nervousness. He thought of how cool Avengers battles used to be, but now that he’s seeing one in person, it just frightened him. 

Kris turned around, and he saw Claude and Emma. If the battle wasn't hard enough already, it just escalated from a 100 to a 1,000. The monster began roaring, heading towards Kris. He instinctively shot webs at him. It immediately incinerated as soon as it got a few meters next to the monster. Kris didn’t know what to do—his webbing was practically useless. 

Luckily, Mysterio flew in and put a force field on the both of them, just as the molten creature was about to bash its arms on Kris. But because of Mysterio’s force field, it forcefully kept pushing downward upon them, the lava slightly dripping out of it with every push. “Are you okay?!” Kris shouted.

“Onto plan B?!” Mysterio asked, his voice strained from having to shield the both of them from the monster.

“Yeah! We gotta hit him with something he can’t absorb!” Kris looked around for something they could use. 

“I go left, you go right.” Kris nodded. “ _Now!_ ” 

Mysterio pushed back with the force field, temporarily distracting the monster. The molten man directed its attention toward Mysterio, but seeing as it couldn’t reach him, because he flew, turned to Kris, who was standing still.

Kris immediately ran to the right, as the molten man decided to give up his pursuit on Mysterio, and started firing at Kris. He started running, webbed himself up to pull himself on top of a tent, and used it as a trampoline. The trampoline gave him enough speed to outrun the fire that chased him as he ran up a wall, stumbling a bit, and pushed hard enough to go over the creature, leaving a trail of smoke behind him. He flipped and used his momentum to web a piece of rubble, landing behind a lamppost and creating a pulley of sorts to launch the said piece of rubble onto the creature.

“Okay, shoot him!” Kris yelled. Mysterio flew in and hit the monster hard. It must have done a lot of damage, as the monster’s torso area turned green and had a huge dent in it. 

“That hurt him! Keep it coming!” Mysterio kept flying around to disorient the monster and blast it with his green beams of magic. Kris looked around for pieces of rubble to fling at the monster. He webbed a piece of rubble, turning it around in circles to give the rubble more momentum, and launched it to the molten monster. “Kid-Arachnid! Keep your distance!”

“I’m trying!”

“Can’t let him get near the ferris wheel!”

“Okay! I’m on it!” The Molten man knocked Kris onto a truck, before punching the floor to create what felt like an earthquake of at least one magnitude, with a crack split towards the ferris wheel. It caused the ferris wheel to slant a bit, making Claude and Emma to both scream as they tried to hold on to the ferris wheel.

The monster heads for the ferris wheel, but Mysterio flew in front of it and blasted the monster back, the monster still resisting to yield. Kris got up and tried to web the ferris wheel, but hit something invisible.

“Whoah, what is that?!” Kris yelled. He yanked the invisible object away, never to be seen again. Kris ran forth, dolphin diving into a front roll in between the monster’s legs. He jumped up and webbed the ferris wheel to the building behind. He braced his feet against the ferris wheel to give it more stability. “That’s it! Nice! _Nice!_ You got him!”

Beck continued firing more magic beams at the monster. The one thing that made it worse was that the beams had pushed the monster back into a steel construction platform, which made the monster bigger and stronger. It roared even louder compared to before. “No, no, no!” 

“It’s too late…” Maria commented.

“Whatever happens…” Mysterio turns to Kris, removing his helmet. “I’m glad we met.”

“BECK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” Kris asked, his feet still braced against the ferris wheel.

“ _… What I should have done, last time…_ ” Quentin responded grimly. He seemed to have harnessed his powers into his fists and started to scream from what seemed like the pain, his cape flapping behind him violently.

“BECK! DON’T DO IT!” But Mysterio didn’t listen—He dodged the Fire Monster's hand and smashed it right on the left of the monster’s chest.

“ _ **BECK!**_ ” Kris yelled as the fire monster turned green before exploding into small green particles. Kris finally set the Ferris wheel back to its place and dropped down. 

“Mr. Beck?” Kris asked. Quentin’s body was slightly steaming a bit. Maybe from the heat. Luckily, Quentin survived. “Oh thank god…” Kris helped him up. He lifted his eye lenses up to show his eyes.

“So it’s over?” Maria asked.

“That was the last of them,” Quentin responded.

“But not the last threat we’ll ever face. We need to stay vigilant. There’s a void in this world for someone like you. Hill and I are going to the Europol headquarters in Berlin tomorrow. You should join us.” Nick said, holding his hand out to Beck.

Quentin stood up and shook his hand, smiling. “Thank you. I just might take you up on that.” 

Nick turned to Kris, and approached him. Quentin sat back down. “You got gifts, Echarri, but you didn't want to be here.”

“Mr. Fury, I—”

“I’d _love_ to have you in Berlin, too. But you got to decide whether to step up, or not. Stark _chose_ you. He _made_ you an Avenger. I need that. The _world_ needs that. Maybe Stark was wrong.” Kris started to tear up a little, staring at Nick. “Was he? The choice is yours.”

Kris stood there, quiet, for a few seconds before Mysterio walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. “Let’s get a drink,” Quentin said, patting Kris’ back. Kris turned around to Beck.

“I’m not 21.”

~~~

“Hey. You gotta celebrate. you did something good tonight.” Quentin said, holding Kris’ shoulder.

“Yeah. Fury was right. Dad did a lot for me… So, I owe it to him. To everybody.” 

“ _Do_ you?"

“Yeah, I mean... Mr. Stark gave me a chance to be more. He wanted me to be better than him, and Fury just wants me to live up to that.” Kris explained as he played around with his fingers, 

“What do you want, Kristian?” Quentin asked.

“What do you mean?”

“What do you want?”

“I don’t know…” Kris scoffed.

“What do you want? You, Kristian Echarri. Now.”

“I wanna go on my trip. I wanna go back on my trip with my friends… And go to the top of the Eiffel Tower with the girl who I really like, and tell her how I feel, and… I don’t know… give her a kiss.” He explained, citing his plan to Quentin. 

“Whoah,” Quentin teased, raising one eyebrow.

“Shut up, man…” Kris chuckled, playfully punching Quentin. The two started laughing.

“You’re not gonna do that, are you?” Quentin aske, drinking his beer.

“I can’t…” Kris leaned forward to sip his glass of orange juice.

“Why not?”

“Because I have too much of a responsibility.” A woman spoke to him in Czech, giving him back his glasses. “Oh my god, thank you so much,”

“What are those? Are those the…” Quentin pointed to the glasses.

“EDITH glasses. Yeah.” He inspected the glasses a bit. “Actually, it may or may not be my own glasses. They kinda look the same.”

“They were just on the _floor?_ ” Quentin said, giving Kris a slightly disappointed look. “Try them on. Let’s see how they look.”

Kris removed the glasses and put them on. “I actually really like 'em, even if they’re practically the same as my own glasses, with just minor changes. You’d notice them if you look closely.”

“Can I be completely honest with you?”

Kris raised his hand, drinking his orange juice. “Please.” 

“They look really stupid.” Quentin deadpanned. “Even _if_ they’re practically the same as your glasses., they also make you look like a grandpa.”

“Oh.” Kris looks down, a bit disappointed.

“Maybe they have a contact lens version of them.” Quentin suggested as he takes another drink of beer.

“You try them on.” Kris said, taking off the glasses, putting back his own one, and handing it to Quentin. 

“No, Kid. I don’t wanna try them on,” Quentin laughed.

“Try them on!" He insisted.

Quentin sighed and took the glasses and tried them on. “What do you think, Kid?” Kris looks at him intently.

“I get it, now.” Kris muttered. He definitely fit the glasses. It all made _sense_ to him, now.

“What?”

“‘For the next Tony Stark, I trust you’. Mr. Stark said that in a note. And obviously, it can’t be me.” 

Beck furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “I’m still not following. How many OJs have you had?”

“Okay, so basically. He knew every mistake I ever made. So he must have known I’m not ready for something like this. So, it obviously _can’t_ be me. But even if it _was_ meant for me, I failed Tony’s legacy too much to handle this responsibility.”

“Then why did he give it to you?”

“I don’t know. But you’re definitely Tony’s successor material. You’re a leader, a soldier, and you saved the world! It has to be you, because you have _way_ more experience than I do.”

Quentin removed the glasses. “No, Kris. Come on. No.”

Kris put back the glasses. “EDITH?” Surprisingly, he got the right one.

“ _Hello, Kristian._ ”

“Hi. Yeah, um… I’d like to transfer your control over to Quentin Beck.” Kris finished his glass of orange juice and sighed.

“ _Any transfer will require confirmation._ ”

“Stark gave _YOU_ the glasses!” Quentin said.

“Stark gave me a _choice!_ It’s _my_ choice to make, and I’m going to make it. You’re a soldier, a leader, you stopped the elementals. You saved my life, you saved the _world!_ Okay?”

“Waiting for confirmation.”

“Confirm,” Kris said, giving Beck the glasses with a small smile. “Welcome to the Avengers.” Quentin sighed, taking the glasses and putting them on. Kris tilted his head. “They look good on you.”

The two shook hands. “Thank you. It’s an honor.”

“Mr. Stark would have really liked you,” Kris said, taking his messenger bag.

“Where you headed?”

“Gonna find Lysithea.”

“Good luck, kid. You’re pretty awkward. I’ll give you about a fifty-fifty chance.” Kris smiled at Beck one last time before he walked out of the bar with a spring in his step.

~~

There was a sand-like monster, roaring at two people in suits.

“ _Cut!_ ” a film director said. Turned out, it was a movie in the making. The monster vanished, revealing a Stark Industries jet from behind. The jet landed, disrupting the entire production. Happy Hogan stepped out.

“Happy Hogan. I’m here for some important Stark Industries business. Who’s the person behind the _amazing_ special effects?” Quentin steps out to greet him. “Tony Stark learned about your hologram tech, and wanted to hire you to develop it further. Your tech could change the world with your creation.”

Elated, Beck agreed to the job.

~~~

Back to Beck, the bar distorted as it slowly faded into blue. Something didn’t seem right. 

~~~

Beck was working at Stark Industries, happy with his new technology. It was a projector. He tested it out by playing a random scene from a movie. Like what he expected, it was like he himself was inside the movie. He was proud of it.

~~~

Back to Beck, more of the bar fading away.

~~~

Beck stood on the sidelines as Tony brushed off the technology in an auction of sorts. He had an offended look on his face. 

~~~

And finally, back to Beck. The bar was completely different from before and only two words echoing through his head, over and over.

“You’re fired.”

Quentin’s face formed into an enraged scowl. He jumped up onto the counter, and the whole room thundered with applause. “Okay, we got EDITH. Get these connected to our system.” 

Everyone was chanting, “Toast! Toast! Toast!”

“Okay, toasts! Give me that, Doug! To the man who brought us all together, our former boss, Tony Stark.” Quentin toasted. Instead of toasting, everyone booed.

“The jester king. Literally _wrapped,_ in wealth and technology that he was unfit to wield. Like the holographic system, I designed. A _revolutionary_ breakthrough, with _limitless_ applications, that Tony turned into a self-therapy machine and renamed it…”

~~~

“Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing, or BARF…” Tony presented to the people. People at the auction laughed at the acronym. “Oh, six-hundred and eleven million dollars for my little therapeutic experiment.” 

~~~

“He renamed my life’s work, _BARF._ I told him that it was a mistake. That my technology can change the world. And then... He fired me. Said I was… _unstable…_ To Tony!” Quentin shouted.

“To Tony!”

“Next, to William.”

“To William!”

~~~

“Tony Stark was able to build this in a _cave! With a box of scraps!_ ” Obediah yelled at William.

~~~

“The integration of my illusion tech, with _your_ weaponized drones, was brilliant. Powerful illusions, real damage, worked like a charm. And it’s _just_ the beginning.” Quentin said, happily toasting to William  
.  
“Thank you, brother,” William thanked proudly.

“To Guterman!” Quentin raised his bottle to Guterman, who proudly smirked at everyone else.

“To Guterman!”

“The story you created of a soldier from another earth named Quentin fighting space monsters in Europe, is…” Quentin raised his fist. “ _…Totally_ ridiculous! And, apparently, _exactly_ the kind of thing people will _believe_ right now. I mean, _everybody_ bought it.” Quentin explained. He pointed at Victoria. “To Victoria!”

“To Victoria!”

"Staging electromagnetic pulses at each attack site with Fury's own satellites would confirm our lies? _Inspired_ idea. To Janice!" Quentin praised. He pointed at Janice.

“To Janice!”

“After Tony died, _she_ was the one who discovered that EDITH was being handed over _not_ to _us,_ not to the Defense Department, but to a _child,_ ” Quentin said.

“To the rest of you, Tony Stark is gone. There is a window of opportunity and someone _will_ step up. But these days, you can be the _smartest_ guy in the room, the _most qualified,_ and _no one_ cares. Unless you’re flying around with a _cape,_ or shooting _lasers_ from your hands, _no one_ will _even_ listen…” Quentin paused. He gave them a smile and a nod. “Well, _I’ve_ got a cape. _And_ lasers. With our technology, and _with_ EDITH, Mysterio will be the _greatest._ Hero. On Earth!” The room was filled with cheering.

“AND _EVERYONE_ WILL LISTEN!” Quentin started shaking his head, smiling. “ _ **NOT**_ TO A _BOOZY_ MAN CHILD!"

“ _No!_ ”

“ _ **NOT**_ TO A HORMONAL TEENAGER!”

“ _NO!_ ”

Quentin proudly raises his bottle. “TO _ME!_ And, to my very wealthy crew! To us.”

“To us!” The crowd raises their glasses, along with Beck.

“ _ **TO MYSTERIO!**_ ” Beck roared.

“TO MYSTERIO!”

“ _ **TO KRISTIAN ECHARRI!**_ ”

“TO KRISTIAN ECHARRI!”

“…Poor kid.” Beck said with a small tint of guilt for deceiving him, shaking his head. “Let’s get to work!”


	24. Personal Hijinks / Praguenosis: BAD

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once Kris returned to the hotel, he finally decided to ask Lysithea out. But big surprises and changes await him.

Kris ran back upstairs to the hotel they were in, with his dress shirt, slacks, and black shoes, and his messenger bag slung over at his left shoulder. “Kris! Oh my god! We almost _died!_ ” Claude said, half-laughing and hugging Kris, in his bathrobes.

“It’s fine! It’s fine! Hey, guess what? I’m done with the mission!” Kris added.

“Dude, the trip is _over._ ”

“What?”

“There are monsters coming out of the ground everywhere we go. Of course, our parents would want us back…” Claude explained. 

“Please don’t put me on hold…” Mr. Harrington walked out of his door and spotted Kris. “Oh, Kristian! You’re not dead! Oh my god. Yes, good. Stay here, don't die—put some clothes on!” He hugged Kris’ head awkwardly and patted Kris’ back. “We’re booking flights!” 

“Ve came for Science, ve're leaffing pecauze of vitches. Arh ! Velcome to zee new dark ages.” Mr. Ludwig told them, brisk-walking to his room.

“What is going on, dude?” Kris asked, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

“We’re going home in the morning,” Claude answered. There goes his plans to hand Lysithea the necklace. Gone in the wind. 

“No, no, no, no. All the Elementals are gone!” Kris explained, holding out for the hope that the trip wouldn’t be over.

“Claude?” Emma called from her room.

“Alright. Sorry, Kris,” Claude said.

“I’m live streaming. Keep it down,” Brad said. Kris noticed there was disco music in the room. It weirded him out a little. He wondered what was going on in that room.

“Hey,” Lysithea greeted.

“Hi,” Kris nervously said. He could tell Lysithea was mad, because he ditched her in the opera. “Look, I’m sorry. I know the last thing I deserve is another chance, but also, because it’s the last night in Europe, and I’m not ready for it to be over, and I kind of want to do something fun. You know, something not on the itinerary, or planned, or with Mr. Harrington…”

“Okay. Meet outside in five minutes.”

“You look pretty—” Once again, the almighty door slammed on his face. He sighed. “Great move, Kristian. Ditching her twice and expecting her to say yes, even if she _did_ kinda, somewhat say yes?” 

“I just… I don’t know. He’s a good guy, but him and his disappearing acts are annoying…”

“Maybe it’s because…”

Kris breathed deeply. “Yeah. Great job. Nice. Perfect. All the synonyms for ‘good’.” he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why am I even eavesdropping? That’s… that’s creepy.”

Still, he was happy that she agreed to go out with her.

~~~

Kris had his black hoodie, NASA shirt, and black pants, silently watched on the news about his appearance as ‘Night Monkey.’, before Lysithea joined. “Hey, uh, where do you want to go?” 

“Anywhere,” She simply responded. Her eyes clearly showed Kris she's still not over it. Still, he couldn’t help but smile a little, that they finally went out together. She noticed Kris had another black jacket. “How many jackets do you even have?”

“Let’s just say… a lot.”

~~~

“I’m glad we’re doing this,” Kris said.

“Yeah, uh, me too, I guess.” 

They were walking too close to each other, to the point they almost held hands.  
Kris took a deep breath and took the necklace container he had in his pocket. His heart was pounding. Both out of fear and nervousness. He’s just hoping his squeaky voice doesn’t appear mid-way and screw him over. “Okay, but first, uh, since it’s our last night, I wanna tell you this, first,” Kris said. Lysithea's interest must have piqued because she looked up. “Since it's the last night in Europe, and I had this plan I wanted to tell you. I'm just gonna—I’m just gonna tell you. Lysithea I—” 

“Am Kid-Arachnid?”

Kris blinked at her, processing what she just said. When the realization hit him, he shook his head, furrowing his eyebrows. “What?”

“That’s what you’re gonna say. You’re Kid-Arachnid.”

“No. No, I’m not Kid-Arachnid.” His squeaky voice appeared and it betrayed him and his nervousness. 

“I mean, I’ve been watching you for a while, now. It’s… kind of obvious.” Lysithea said, shrugging.

“What makes you think I’m Kid-Arachnid?” Kris shoved his hands into his pockets forcefully. He dug his nails into his palms to try and calm him down, but it had been proven to make him nervous even more and he let go.

“Kris, you sound exactly like him.”

“He could be using a voice modulator. You know, like Batman,” Kris responded. He gripped the necklace tightly.

“Remember Washington?” She objected.

“Yeah?”

“The fact that you disappear out of nowhere for no reason.” 

Kris shook his head swiftly. “No, no, I was sick. Remember? I had the tummy—”

“Whatever city we’re visiting he just so happened to be in town.”

“Just pure coincidence, is all!”

“That one time you told me you were… what, Kid-Arachnid about six years ago, minus the blip, and it’s one?”

Kris puffed his cheeks in embarrassment. “I was sick! And, also, didn’t one of my cousins tell you about how I become a dumbo when I’m sick, or, or something like that? I either get cranky, or become a dumbo. And that day, I was a dumbo! So that’s invalid evidence!”

Lysithea moved a shoulder.“You know, Gwen thinks you’re a male escort?”

“Of course I’m not a male escort!” Kris deflected.

“Well, then you’re Kid-Arachnid.”

“No, I’m not Kid-Arachnid at all! And, again, invalid evidence!” Kris’ voice progressively got squeakier as the conversation continued. He had to end it quickly or else his voice will be a dead give away that he’s lying. Then again, it probably already is, in the first place. 

“Last Halloween, your costume was a _little_ too convincing.”

“Well, uh…” Kris thought of an excuse, running his fingers through his hair and tapping his foot. “I made his suit! Mr. Stark taught me to make high-tech stuff, and I’m just the gadget guy for the Avengers.”

Lysithea narrowed her eyebrows. “What about tonight? You snuck off and fought that thing. I saw you.”

“You can’t have seen me, because I’m not Kid-Arachnid! And also, on the news, it was the Night Monkey.” 

She didn’t look convinced at all. “Night Monkey?”

“That's what it said on the news…” Kris said, shaking his head. “… And the news... Never lies.” ~~Boy, will that bite him in the ass later.~~

“Night Monkey.” Lysithea nodded. Kris could tell she was doing it sarcastically. “Okay.” She pulled out her bag from under the hoodie and pulled out an object covered in webs. Kris sighed, looking at the object. “Well, do the Night Monkey and Spider-Man and/or Kid-Arachnid use the same webs?” 

“I mean, maybe. Maybe he’s a Spider Monkey. Who knows?” A few beats passed. Kris gulped, twisting his wrist around to inspect the object. “Were you only watching me because you thought I was Kid-Arachnid?”

Lysithea looked unprepared for this part of the confrontation. She looked down with a worried frown on her face. “Yeah.” She closed her eyes. “Why else would I be watching you?”

“Oh.” Kris blinked rapidly. “I just thought that maybe…” The two of them progressively inched towards each other. They were too close to each other and were practically in the range of kissing, until Kris bumped into the drone that was in Lysithea’s hand, and it revealed a tornado-like elemental. “The hell was that?!”

“What is it, some kind of projector, or something?” Lysithea asked, cautiously eyeing the object.

Kris cautiously approached the object, making sure nothing would be there to surprise him. The object seemed to be malfunctioning, because it was buzzing and blue light flashed. “It’s really advanced… Like, REALLY, really advanced.” 

“It looked so real…” She commented.

“Yeah, really real…” Kris added He narrowed his eyes, wondering what this meant. 

“Wait a minute, does that mean…?” Lysithea wondered.

“The elementals are _fake?_ ” Kris closed his eyes, trying to deduct who would it be. Lysithea gave him a look. “But that doesn’t make sense, because we were there, right? There was fire, and destruction… _Who would do something like that?_ ” Kris said. He accidentally pressed the button that showed the projection again. Lo and behold, Mysterio was there, fighting the monster.

“ _Mysterio…?_ " Lysithea whispered.

Kris, realized what he just did. His heart sank, and he could feel a stomach ache slowly coming up as it churned inside him. “I _am_ Kid-Arachnid…” Kris nodded with a worried face. He puffed his cheeks, sweating profusely and furrowing his eyebrows. He gulped. “…And I really messed up.” 

“Are you—are you being serious right now..?” Lysithea blinked, processing what Kris had just said. “You aren’t messing with me, Like you’re a hundred percent serious? Because it’s not funny.” She stuttered, a concerned look on her face.

“No, I’m not joking.” Kris started sweating buckets.

“Because I was only sixty-seven percent sure. Wh—why are you here? Why are you on the school trip?”

“Lysithea, look. I know you have a lot of questions, but now's not the time for it. We really have to get out of here.” Kris babbled. He started running back to the hotel.

“Okay—okay, can’t believe we figured it out!”

~~~

“I can’t believe I gave Beck those glasses. How could I have been so stupid? He's probably sending a drone to kill me.” Kris said, closing curtains. He turned to the computer, searching for trains that leave for Berlin. 

“You had access to killer drones..?”

“Yeah, I didn’t really want them. ‘Specially since I almost killed Brad…”

“You almost _killed_ Brad?”

“Look, I have to call Mr. Fury, and tell him Beck's a fraud, but I think he tapped my phone.” Kris noticed Gwen was in the room. Either she hid _really_ well, or he was too focused on the fact he gave Beck advanced technology to even notice. “Why’s she here?”

“Oh, the both of us doing our thing…” Gwen twirled her hair with her finger. “The thing being finding out you were Kid-Arachnid…”

“ _What?_ ” Kris asked.

“Yeah—you give away too much evidence.”

“Great. Perfect. All the synonyms for ‘good’. Dangit, how many other people know about this?”

“Just the two of us.”

“Good. And keep it that way—I don’t want any more people in trouble because of me.”

“So what are you gonna do?” Lysithea asked.

“I need my suit, and go to Berlin and talk to Mr. Fury in person,” Kris explained, undressing. He already had his shirt off when he remembered there were girls in the room with him. If he hadn’t remembered that, he would have continued. He was so used to doing it in front of Claude and they’d be cool with it. But this situation had girls. And that made the awkwardness ten-times worse. He awkwardly stared at them, his mouth agape.

“Just…” Lysithea muttered before turning around, clearing her throat. Gwen teasingly looked at Lysithea, to which she forced her away from Kris. 

Claude was already there, at the door. “Ah, Claude! Perfect!” Kris said, opening his mask eyes. Gwen and Lysithea turned around to see the suit.

“The costume looks great! For the… for the costume party! At the Prince’s Castle!” Claude said, trying to cover for Kris.

“They know. I told ‘em.”

“He didn't tell me. We figured it out.” Gwen bragged with a smug look. Claude nodded, acknowledging their deductions. “Like, a long time ago.”

“Look, Mysterio was a fraud,” Kris revealed.

Claude gave Kris a confused expression, wondering how Kris came to that conclusion.“But he saved me and Emma’s lives?” 

“He’s been faking the whole thing with illusion tech,” Lysithea explained.

“Yeah. He’s using these hologram projectors.”

“Woah, that’s crazy,” Claude commented.

“So, you guys are working the case together…? Or…” Claude said, trying to break the silence.

“Claude, I need you to call Peter, get him to call Mr. Harrington and say that he wants me to meet him at a station in Berlin to collect some supplies for Doctor Octavius until this blows over,” Kris instructed Claude.

Claude nodded. “Got it. Easy.”

“Wow, you guys lie with such ease,” Lysithea commented, standing around awkwardly. 

“I gotta go,” Kris said as he opened the curtain and windows.

“Wait, wait, wait. The projector. You’re gonna need this.” Gwen said, throwing the projector to him. He caught it. 

“Don’t tell _anyone_ about this, okay? Anyone who knows is in danger.” Kris instructed the three as he closed his mask eyes and swung out of the room.


	25. A Lot Of 'Splaining To Do / The Magical Mysterio Tour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once Kris found out Beck was a fraud, he swung to Berlin, not knowing what _truly_ awaited him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a quick note—I haven't revisited some of the older MCU movies, so if I get some information wrong, I'm sorry, hope you understand!

Kris swung and flipped onto a train. He rode it until he reached Berlin. Not really what he imagined, because of Boy In Striped Pyjamas, but that took place at least fifty or more years ago. He leapt out of the train and swung to the station, as people gasped and pointed at him. He landed next to a lady and stood up. “Excuse me. Do you know where…”

The lady ran away. “Nacht Monkey!” 

Kris reached for her but stopped. “No, wait, I didn’t—oh, man…” He didn’t know what he was gonna do. He didn’t have a single idea where Nick had his base of operations. Fortunately for him, Nick pulled up in front of him. 

“Get in.”

Kris hurriedly got in the car. He looked around and made sure there weren’t any drones or people staring at him before taking off his mask, panting. “Mr. Fury!”

“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do.” Nick didn’t look at him as he spoke. Instead, he kept looking forward. 

“No, no, no, listen!”

Fury raised a finger. “Wait until we're secure.”

Kris rested himself on the hearest and sighed heavily. “Okay.”

A few beats passed. Nick cleared his throat and gestured Kris for the seatbelt. Kris tried to get it out, but it wouldn’t move at all. It just stayed in place. Kris ended up breaking the seatbelt in an attempt to put it around him. He awkwardly turned to Nick, who shook his head and sighed deeply.

~~~

The car pulled up in a carpark, and Fury led Kris into the building. It was cool. And he wouldn’t be surprised if there was at least one room dedicated to Fury just so he can have his vacation there, or something along those lines. He studied the area cautiously in case there were any drones as Fury led him to a white room where Maria stood there, waiting for the two. It looked like a meeting room. “So, wanna tell us anything about your girlfriend?” 

Fury walked to Maria’s side. Kris pulled up his eye lenses. “He’s talking about EDITH.”

“Look—I know I made a mistake, and I’m sorry. But Beck is a fraud. Mysterio, the Elementals, it's all fake. He’s using some sort of illusion tech. And that’s how he tricked you guys and tricked me into giving him EDITH.” Kris explained as he slammed the projector onto the table and slid it to Fury and Hill’s side of the table. “It's a projector. I pulled this off the fire monster in Prague.” 

“So all that death and destruction we witnessed was created by _this?_ ” Nick pointed at the projector, slightly unconvinced by Kris’ claims.

“No, not just this—I think he’s using drones.”

Maria turned to the window, observing the outside. “Well, if this is true, then Beck is very dangerous, and we need to be smart. Who else did you tell about this?” Nick asked. Kris’ Spider-Sense started tingling. He didn’t pay attention at all anymore—he was more focused on the threat at hand. It frightened him—what Beck could do with the tech. He furrowed his eyebrows, trying to sense out where Beck could be hiding. “Echarri? Echarri.”

“It’s Beck. He’s here.” Kris said, putting back his mask eyes before the whole HQ turned into a construction site.

Nick turned to what he thought was Maria. “ _Hill?_ ” Maria was disappearing, along with the HQ they thought they were at.

“Don’t worry, it’s just an _illusion!_ ” A missile was fired from behind Kris, seemingly hitting Fury “Fury!” He looked back and saw one of the weaponized drones. The exact same one he accidentally used against Brad. It took another shot, blasting Kris through the back wall, causing him to fall several floors down. He coughed, clutching the area he got shot at, being the chest. He removed his hands to see the gunshot wound. It steamed a little bit. Quentin Beck’s voice, amplified, took center stage. Kris got surrounded by drones, all pointing lasers at him. He upped his guard, cautious of how Beck could be anywhere at any time.

“ _Wow, Kristian. Wow. I thought we were close. Fury **always** had to die. But not **you.**_ ”

“Stop hiding, Beck!” Kris yelled as he shot some webs at one of the drones but missed. Their cloaking devices activated and they disappeared, while another illusion got activated.

“I tried to help you walk away. Now you're making me do this…”

There were many echoes that rang through the building and forced its way into Kris’ ears. Everything went dark. Kris, now in his original Tony Stark suit, looked in horror when lights fell down, revealing a school corridor covered in green smoke on the ground. Mysterio walked towards him. “

“ _You told me, you were **just a kid.**_ ” Kris shot his web, but only green smoke sprayed out of his hands. He looked at his hands, frightened. He tried to press the buttons on the web-shooters, but it didn’t work anymore. Mysterio then suddenly teleported behind him. “ _You **told** me…_” Kris turned to punch him, only to reveal it was actually a brick pillar. He grabbed his wrist in pain, massaging it. “ _...you wanted to run after that **girl!**_ ”

“ _Help me!_ ”

Kris turned to the nearest door. It must be where she was. “Lysithea!” He ran through a door when he was suddenly on top of the Eiffel Tower. The door broke loose and fell down the tower. Kris looked to his right and saw Lysithea, just as confused and scared as he was.

“Kris, what’s going on?” She asked. The moon beside her was suspiciously too big to be a regular one.

“I know this isn’t real,” Kris said, trying his best not to submit to Mysterio’s emotional torments. But Mysterio knew deep down that it’d eventually work on him.

“ _ **Do** you, though?_” The moon next to her materialized into Mysterio and held her up. She grabbed futilely at his wrist, trying to break free. Mysterio dropped her into the green smoke.

“Lysithea!” He called out. Out of instinct, he ran to catch her, not knowing the height he was gonna fall to reach her. But it didn’t matter—he just wanted her to be safe. But instead, he simply fell for Beck’s tricks, just as he wanted—and now, he dropped onto his back. His head was aching—he could still hear her screaming. Echoing through his head, as if it was on loop. As if to emotionally destroy him.

 _“I don’t think you know **what’s** real Kristian._” Beck taunted, the voice slowly going deeper for every ‘Kristian’. 

Kris tried to get a grip on reality, placing a hand on his forehead. But the floor started sliding on him. Or felt like it to him, anyway. He looked around. Everything looked like a green blur, but he could slightly make out that this was Branford as several more buildings passed him at incredible speeds. “Whoah! Whoah!” 

One of the buildings, with a neon sign that says “Branford” above it, stopped before him. He remembered this place. The place where he confronted his grandfather’s killer. But how did he—? 

Before he could think fast, Mysterio’s gigantic fist then punched through the doors of the warehouse, sending Kris flying. He flew through the horizon, and it shattered like glass, the shards behind falling with him. He kept yelling as he fell. He kept hearing angry voices of his cousins, taunting him as he fell through webs. It layered over each other for each spider-web he fell through.

“ _You’re a **failure!**_ ”

“ _You’ll **never** be like Tony Stark!_”

“ _ **You** caused his death!_”

“ _It’s all **your** fault!_”

“ _If you were good enough, he could still **live!**_ ”

“ _You need to **wake up!**_ ”

Kris crashed on top of a car. The illusion briefly stopped as he stumbled onto the ground, breathing anxiously as he looked around. He needs to find a way to stop all of this or else he could potentially be stuck here forever. He looked up and saw dozens of drones fly out of the windows of the building as the illusion continued. Everything went dark, and the ground had green smoke. The illusion continued. Huge shards of glass fell down, surrounding him. He stumbled around, trying his best to dodge most of them.

“ _I mean, **look at yourself.**_ ”

Kris looked at himself in the shard of glass. He tilted his head cautiously before he lifted a shaky hand, reaching out to point at himself. Suddenly, his mirrored counterpart grabbed his hand and threw him off balance. Another clone punched him, but he punched back. Dozens more came through the shards of glass, hurling themselves at him and pulling his suit away.

“ _You… are just a scared little kid… in a **sweatsuit!**_ ” The Spider-Men vanished. Kris was back in his homemade suit. He stood among the ruins of a Captain America statue, standing on what seemed to be his shield. He looked up to see a Mysterio statue loom over him. 

“ _I created Mysterio to give the world **someone** to **believe** in._” Kris gazed upon the Mysterio statue. He slapped himself once to try and break out of the illusion. It didn’t work. Nothing he tried could break him out of the illusion. “ _I control the truth! Mysterio. Is. The **truth.**_ ”

Mysterio landed behind Kris and attacked, firing lasers at him. Kris dodged the lasers and kept trying to shoot webs at him. He kept missing, no matter how many times he tried to shoot webs. Mysterio kept dodging, firing more lasers at him. Kris flipped to the ground and webbed Mysterio’s chest. Just as Mysterio powered up himself with his green triangular magic, Kris pulled—only to reveal that it was actually a crane. He avoided the crane and turned to see Mysterio firing more lasers at him. Kris dodged it, but the laser hit a stone arm. Kris looked up to see the stone fist fall on top of him, screaming and covering his head, covering the area in green smoke. 

When the green smoke cleared, Kris lifted his head. He was in a cemetery. In front of him was this massive gravestone, casting a shadow of pain and doubt onto him. It had Tony’s name. Kris angrily punched the tombstone in denial, only for it to crumble, and reveal two other gravestones. The other gravestones being his parents’ ones.

“ _If you were good enough… **maybe they wouldn’t have left you at your Aunt’s.**_ ”

Kris knelt, looking down. Beck achieved what he wanted. _Exactly_ what he wanted. Kris promised himself that he wouldn’t fall for this trickery earlier, but he did. His hands were too shaky for his liking, but it didn’t matter to him—his eyes were blank. Devoid of emotion. He didn’t expect Beck to go this far, but he did. And it was sickening. 

Two decomposed hands burst out of the ground, trying to grab Kris, who scurried back in fear. His heart pounded furiously as he kept his eyes trained at the two hands. The partially decomposed corpses of both of his parents crawled out of the grave and limped towards him. Kris suddenly felt like he was getting sucked in on an eye socket of both his parents, as a brown recluse spider crawled out of it, jumping at his face. He screamed, trying to swat it off, but it just wouldn’t let go. The eyes transform in several marching Mysterios

“ _Deep down, you **know** I’m right._” 

Kris felt like he was being sucked into the eyes on Mysterio’s costume. It opened and transitioned to a dome-like room that Kris was in. He looked around cautiously as it played several different videos. Or what looked like videos. It showed the many failures of Tony Stark.

“ _Terrorist bombs. Sokovia. Ultron. He manipulated **you** into joining him to fight against the Avengers who were against the Sokovia Accords. Tony did all those. You **think** he’s a hero?_” Mysterio chuckled. “ _He’s no **hero.** Just an arrogant, billionaire, playboy that was sad his mommy and daddy died, because his friend’s best friend went off and killed them. And to make a name for himself, he selled bombs. To **Terrorists.**_ ”

He ran. He didn’t know where—but just needed to be away from all of this. He busted through one of the screens that displayed Tony’s failures, shattering it like glass. Kris then found himself in a gigantic snow globe, several buildings shot out of the snow, surrounding him. The snow globe was actually Mysterio’s head, who detached it from his body.

“ _You made your choice, and all you had to do was step aside. And now, you ha—_ ”

 _Bang!_ The illusion suddenly vanished when Quentin, in his mo-cap outfit, fell to his knees. As he fell to the ground, Fury, who shot Quentin, limped towards Kris, who had apparently been lying in a pile of sand. Several operatives drove onto the scene, got out of their cars and surrounded Beck.

“Fury!” Kris exclaimed, crawling out of the sand. Something didn’t feel right about those operatives. They weren’t moving an inch. They didn’t seem to even be breathing.

“Beck’s people… are trying to find everyone who could expose him. Who’d you tell?” Fury folded his arms. Kris placed his hands behind his head, internally debating whether or not he should spill—especially because the operatives were too still to be ‘normal’. “I _know_ you told someone. So, just tell me… _who_ did you tell? Who _else_ did you tell?” 

“Just Claude, Lysithea, and Gwen from my class, and maybe Claude told his girlfriend Emma, but that’s it.” Kris answered. Nick chuckled evilly and shook his head.

“What?” Kris furrowed his eyebrows.

“You… are _so_ gullible. I mean, you’re smart as a whip. Just a…” Nick said, before transitioning to Beck’s voice. “Sucker.” Beck appeared in front of him, with two drones behind him. “And now, all your friends have to die.”

The two drones on Quentin’s sides projected a stream of illusions to scare Kris away. He shielded his head from the falling objects, as it continuously flickered between the areas he visited just now. “Oh, my god!”

“It’s easy to fool people when they’re already fooling themselves.” Beck continued advancing at Kris’ direction, who kept stumbling back. Beck stopped moving. “But for what it’s worth, Kristian… I _really_ am sorry.”

The illusion stopped all of a sudden. Kris, confused, quickly glanced at the ground below him and turned to his right—a train immediately hit him, which drove away into a tunnel.

Beck turned to the train that drove away and turned away. “EDITH?”

“ _Yes, Quentin?_ ”

“Access files to Kristian Echarri’s class trip. I need them to fly home from London.”

The train continued moving. Kris’ hand lifted. All of his fingers were bloody. Especially his face. He struggled to get on the train, thanks to how slippery his blood was. He slid open a window and dropped through it sluggishly, coughing and gripping his side. He crawled his way to the nearest door he found and gripped tightly on the glass, pushing it aside. When he did so, his blood stained the glass as he pushed the door aside. He gripped on a few chairs to support himself and staggered onto a chair, coughing violently. It ached his back to even sit down. He took one glance outside the window and went under.


	26. Happy Landing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once Kris woke up after getting hit by the train, he found himself lost in the Netherlands.

Kris was leaning on the shoulder of a man with an orange football shirt over his chest. His head dropped and he woke up, groggy, and his one eye half open, with the other fully open. He turned to his left and saw two Dutch football hooligans. One of them had an orange hat with an orange flower and a leaf, the other with no shirt, but orange painted over him like a shirt. “Hi.”

Kris furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “Where am I?”

The shirtless man that sat on Kris’ left answered. “Municipal holding facility.”

“They said they found you unconscious at the train yard.” The hatted man shrugged. “Very dangerous.”

Another man, who Kris hadn’t noticed because he leaned against him, answered, startling him. He had a Nike hat with large horns on each side. “We gave you the shirt because you seemed a bit cold.”

“Thanks. You guys are nice.” Kris suddenly remembered he was in Europe and decided to comment on their English. “You speak really good English.”

“Welcome to the Netherlands,” All three chorused.

Kris blinked. “I’m in the Netherlands right now?”

“Yep.” 

Kris turned to the man on his right and quickly staggered to get up, limping to the door, grasping the bars. “Guard?!”

“The guard’s on a break. Probably talking to his wife,” The hatted man with the feather spoke.

“Yeah. She’s pregnant,” The shirtless man added.

The man with a spiked hat turned to the others. “Oh ja? Wat leuk!” (Oh yeah? How nice!)

“Ja, vier weken al.” (Yes, four weeks already)

Kris reached for the other side that held the lock with his hand and snapped it open. He quickly opened the door and limped out of the cell. One of the hooligans walked up to the open door. Kris turned to his left and saw a guard wearing the Night Monkey mask. He was indeed talking to someone over the phone. “Yeah. Yeah. Night Monkey. Yeah.”

Kris left the building. The guard directed his attention to the, no longer locked up, hooligans. “You guys okay?”

The hooligan closed the door.

~~~

Kris, now outside on a rather stereotypical farmers market, pulled the football shirt over his head and wore it. He staggered around, limping. It was like for every step he would take, a knife would decide to stab his knee. After stepping on something and groaning in disgust, he limped his way to a farmer. “Excuse me, sir? Can I borrow your phone?” 

“Ja, zeker,” (Yes, certainly) The Cheese Farmer responded, giving him the phone and smiling.

“Everyone’s so nice here,” Kris commented. He thought about who to call for a bit, before typing in Peter’s cell. He nervously ran his hand through his hair. “Okay... Pick up, pick up, pick up…” He gripped his wrist, trying to support it. It was painful to even lift the phone up to his ear. “Hey. Hey! Uh… I messed up. I need a… I need a ride. Where am I? Uh… where am I, sir?”

“Het is Broek op Langedijk.”

Kris, clearly having difficulty with Dutch pronunciation, asked the cheese farmer for another favor. “Hang on, could you say that into there?”

“Hi. Uh, it’s Broek op Langedijk. Yeah, no problem.”

“Thanks.” He directed the following sentence to the phone, wondering if Peter got it or not. “Did you get that?”

~~~

Kris gripped his thigh as he limped between rows of tulips. One pink, and the other one being yellow. A roaring sound entered his ears as the Quinjet appeared from above, landing in front of him as the many tulips flew in his face. He quickly covered his face from the wind. A door opened and Peter walked down the stairs. “Kris? Are you okay?” 

Kris continued to limp cautiously. “Peter, is that _you?_ ”

“Is it me? Yeah, of course, it’s me!”

Kris hesitated, then halted, raising a hand at Peter. “Stop! Tell me something only _you_ would know!”

“Only I would know… uh… Remember that time when I made you study physics and calculus equations? To help give you a theoretical example of what I did when swinging? If a pendulum is 40 meters long and attached at a 45-degree angle, how far would it fall at it's the lowest point, that one, yeah?”

“I get it, I get it…” Kris said, continuing to limp towards Peter into a hug. “It’s 11.72 meters.” Kris let go. “It's so good to see you…”

“Kris, you’re gonna have to tell me what the hell’s going on.”

~~~

Peter sat Kris down as he stitched up the wounds in his back, clearly causing pain. Kris looked out the window in an attempt to distract himself from the pain, gritting his teeth tightly. Peter knew he had to do something to try and brighten up the grim mood, even just by a little. “What happened to that super strength?” He joked, trying to ease the tension in the air. Even by just a little.

Kris quickly pinched the bridge of his nose before running his fingers through his hair. “It still hurts.”

“All right, relax. Just a few more… there we go.” Kris yelled in pain and slammed his fist on the table angrily. He couldn’t relax—he was under immense amounts of stress. Not only was Beck going to try to kill his friends and maybe half of Europe, but he also gave him a super advanced piece of technology. “Relax!”

Kris turned back to Peter, his eyes glossy with tears. “Don’t _tell_ me to relax, Peter! _How_ can I relax when I’ve messed up so bad? I _trusted_ Beck. Right? I _thought_ he was my friend so I gave him the _only_ thing that Mr. Stark left behind for me and now he’s going to kill my friends and half of Europe, so _please,_ do _not_ tell me to relax.” His voice broke at the last few words. He sat down, ran his fingers through his hair, and inhaled sharply. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t shout.” Kris breathed heavily, trying to calm down from his sudden outburst. “I just really miss him.”

Peter took off his glasses and looked down. “Yeah, I miss him too.”

“Everywhere I go… _I see his face._ And the whole world is asking who is going to be the next Iron Man and…” Kris covered his nose, trying to suppress the sting he felt behind his eyes. He sniffed. Either way, he still let it break out, and started crying. “I don’t know if that’s me, Peter. I’m _not_ Iron Man.”

“You’re not Iron Man. You’re never going to be Iron Man. Nobody can live up to Tony Not even Tony. Tony was the best mentor. And he was a mess.”—Kris looked up at Peter, his eyes red and puffy from crying—“He second-guessed everything he did, he was all over the place. The one thing he did that he didn't second-guess was picking you. I don’t think Tony would’ve done what he did… if he didn’t know that you were going to be here, after he was gone. Your friends are in trouble. You’re all alone. The tech is missing. What are you gonna do about it?” 

Kris thought about it for a minute. He decided that he _was_ going to step up. Literally and figuratively. “I’m gonna kick his ass.”

“No, I mean right now. Specifically, what are we gonna do? Because we’ve been hovering over a tulip field for the last fifteen minutes,” Peter told Kris.

Kris snapped his fingers. “Right, um… I can’t call my friends because he's tracking their phones… uh, give me your phone?” 

“My cell phone?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright. Here.” Peter pulled out the phone from his pocket and handed him his phone. Password already entered.

Kris pulled up Instagram, where Brad was vlogging in an airport, about to depart for London. “ _Ello, governor! A cup of tea for you? I’m gonna be in London soon._ ”

Peter couldn’t help but chuckle a little bit. “That’s got to be the worst English accent I’ve ever heard!” He spoke using an English accent himself as he got up from the chair and put his phone back into his pocket and moved toward the front of the Quinjet.

“Yeah—I need a suit!”

Peter turned back to Kris, a small grin blossoming on his face. “ _Suit,_ you say?"

Peter turned back to the front and walked forward, pressing some buttons on the ceiling. A compartment opened behind Kris. The two turn and exchange glances. Kris, smiling, then he turned back toward the compartment and moved toward it. Another small compartment opened as Kris stared at it. A small metal pad descended from a part of the ceiling and Kris put his hand on it. Blue lights appeared, and he stepped back.

“Okay, um… bring up everything you have on Spider-Man. Or Kid-Arachnid. Kid-Arachnid works better,” Kris said. Holograms appeared, and Kris scrolled through them as Peter watched. “Yeah, open that. Okay. No, no, no…” Kris muttered. He turned around with a holographic web-shooter on his arm when he noticed Peter watching him. “What?”

“Nothing. You take care of the suit, I’ll take care of the music." Peter said before he pressed a few more buttons on the ceiling, the song Back in Black by AC/DC came on.

Kris turned to Peter, wrench in hand. “Stop the music, please.”

“What?”

“I got the _perfect_ music choice,” He walked up to the front of the Quinjet and played Alive from Warbly Jets. The plane took off from the field of tulips, and he expanded a hologram of the Kid-Arachnid suit. “Okay, can you pull up my web-shooters?” Kris asked. A hologram of the web-shooter appeared and Kris pulled out a small part of the web-shooter.

“Isolate the taser webs and reconfigure and boost the voltage to a factor of... twenty-five percent. And with complete manual control over detonation.” Kris pinched the logo out of the Kid-Arachnid suit and pulled it closer for further inspection. 

~~~

“Okay, Fury’s got the message,” Peter said. “Your friends are at Tower Bridge. Your boy called it London Bridge, but I figured it out. I’ll scoop them out, and assist you when I set the plane on autopilot back home. How’s the suit coming?”

“Almost done.” Kris turned to the suit that was still being made. He quickly pulled out the Lily necklace from his pocket. He was surprised at the fact it didn’t break when he got hit by the train. Especially at that speed, which should have destroyed it. But he wasn’t mad. He was just glad it wasn’t destroyed. “And before you go, if something happens to me, could you please give it to Lysithea?” 

“You’re gonna make it back. I’ll help you after I help them,” Peter said confidently, placing his hands on Kris’ shoulders, resembling a dad giving his kid a pep talk. “Now walk me through your plan, please.”

“I know it’s illusion tech, right? All I need to do is to get inside of the illusion and take it down and find him. He’s just a guy, so I can just take EDITH back.” 

Peter nodded. “Right, but last time, you got hit by a train.”

Kris hesitated. He nodded slowly before continuing. “True, but, that’s because I didn’t rely on the Spider-Sense.”

“Alright. Spider-Sense. That’s the plan.” Peter summarised the plan. “Make sure you depend on it heavily when you fight Mysterio. If it works like mine, it should be able to differentiate which one’s real and which one’s not. If you can’t depend on it, you can use this.” Peter rolled up his sleeve and weaved a small sheet of webbing. “This can act as a blindfold if you feel the need to.”

“Alright. Alright. I got this, I got this…” Kris took the blindfold and turned back to the suit that was still being made. 

The suit was equipped with several technological expansions to increase its overall efficiency, having its own built-in camera, radio, and communication system. While wearing the costume, he also made it so that it would also be odor-and scent-free. Which would really be helpful in the long run, so he wouldn’t have to deal with the awful stench of the ocean if he dropped in it. He even had web wings that were always shown, but smaller. (Quite similar to Spectacular Spider-Man’s web wings.) 

Furthermore, the lenses of the suit’s mask were expressive and can squint inwards as well as outwards. The lenses had a built-in AR heads-up display system, allowing Kris to analyze his surroundings in great detail; he could also view his web fluid, his current health state, and global position. In addition to technological enhancements, Kris has also further improved upon the material design of his Advanced Suit, with each of the comprising colors on the outfit actually representing something specific in functionality.

The red part of the suit was made out of a reinforced and thicker material, providing Kris some armor and protection, while the blue part added flexibility. The white bits, which were positioned on his gauntlets, feet, and chest, are carbon fiber, and designed to absorb as much impact as possible, thus offering the most protection. All in all, it was made to fit the needs he had. And this suit provided for those needs.

“Oh yeah. It’s all coming together…”


	27. Tower Of Cower / Bridge & Love’s Burning / And Now This…

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris and Peter devised a plan to take down Mysterio. They have to work together to take down the big bad. With Peter helping his classmates, and Kris taking down the con man. Big changes await our protagonist, however…

“All right, comms check. You can hear me, right?” Peter asked as he turned to Kris, who clung to the jet outside. 

“Yeah, it’s just a little loud, out here,” Kris responded, eyeing the storm ahead of him.

“Nice suit, by the way.”

“Thanks.” Kris turned to Peter, who had just put on his mask, the suit already on. “Your suit’s cool, too.”

“Thanks.” The plane neared a giant cloud that seemed to be where the Tower Bridge stood. It resembled a cloud you would normally see when a nuke dropped. Peter looked at the huge mushroom cloud. “Whoa, Kris. You sure that’s not _real?_ ” 

“Yeah, it’s just a hundred times bigger than expected,” Kris responded, trying his best to cling to the plane. It was the wind that he had to worry about, because of how strong the wind was when they flew. “Also, we gotta go higher so Beck doesn’t see us coming.”

“Alright. Stay sticky!”

As the plane flew higher, Kris couldn’t hold on any longer, and his stickiness gave way as he dove straight into the cloud, that now seemed like a vortex from above. He released the parachute, but he didn’t seem to slow down. He wasn’t surprised—it was small, but large enough to keep the momentum he had going. He soon ejected himself from the parachute as he neared the water and expanded the web wings. 

The air resistance got caught in his web wings, and therefore, he glided higher. But it was much higher than he expected, and he headed toward the monster’s torso. He closed his eyes and looked away. “It's not real, it's not real!” He flew inside the monster and bumped into a drone. He breathed heavily and looked around at the drones from the inside.

“ _Woah…!_ ” Kris said, hanging onto the drone he bumped into. “That’s awesome!” Kris immediately activated his taser webs, so the web-shooter’s barrel changed from blue to yellow. He had manual detonation, so it wasn’t activated upon firing. He shot more webs and connected it all into all the drones he could spot. Once he webbed what seemed to be the last of them, he shot another web on a drone and flipped hims

“I hope this works…!” Kris looked at all the drones and double tapped on the button of his web-shooters. He dropped into a drone and watched as the monster and Mysterio disappeared into blue pixels. Kris watched as the holes that opened up from the monster thanks to him managing to tear down the illusion, and through one of the holes, he spotted Beck 

“I see you…” Kris jumped from drone to drone to reach Beck. Just as he was about to land on the roof of the bridge, a drone pushed him aside at a high speed, causing him to knock into the wall of the bridge and fall. While he _did_ try to web up the bridge to try and get a recovery, it was too far for his range and he hit the ground, crushing the railings under his weight.

~~~

“ _THE MONSTER WAS FULL OF DRONES! IT'S CRAZY!_ ”

“There you are…” Peter flew to the flattest surface of land he could find and landed. He ran out of the jet and located the other kids. “I gotta get you guys outta here! Get on the jet!”

“You’re with Kri—Kid-Arachnid?!” Gwen asked.

“ _Yes!_ Now go!” 

“OH MY GOD IT’S SPIDER-MAN!” Brad shouted.

“Just follow me!” Peter said before the jet exploded.

“New plan! Into the tower!” Peter said, holding out the drones that were following the kids by destroying them or webbing them.

Kris saw the explosion from afar. “Peter, you okay?”

“We’re okay! Just go get Beck!” Peter made sure he stayed close to the kids so that he wouldn’t lose them while also destroying more drones. Peter led the kids into a building and he kicked down the wall, making the wall domino until the last wall dropped. “Into the vault! The walls are eight feet thick! Into the vault! Oh, and mind your step! It’s full of glass!” 

Peter turned around to see more drones approaching them as the kids ran to the vault. Peter and the other kids hid behind suits of armor or walls. “Take cover!’

Lysithea looked around and saw a mace she could use.

“ _No!_ ” Peter mouthed to her. Even _if_ she couldn't even see it. Lysithea nodded, while Peter continued to shake his head. She took it anyway. It almost fell to the ground. Just a few inches away. Peter and Brad cringed. Brad held out his phone to continue the live stream, but Peter pushed it back into his pocket. Emma used a halberd and knocked a piece of armor down, causing the drone to start shooting. Lysithea immediately smashed the drone with her mace.

“Go!” Lysithea said. Everyone ran to the vault. Unlike what Peter had planned, which was to sneakily take out the drone, he shrugged, destroyed the drones, and stayed outside, defending the kids.

~~~

Kris was trying to dodge as many drones as he could. He hid behind a car. “Peter! Say something, to let me know you're alive!” 

“I’m here, I’m here.” Peter answered.

Kris sighed with relief. “Oh, Peter. Thank God.”

“I bought everyone else more time.”

“I'm trying to get to Beck, but I can't shake these drones!" Kris yelled as he pulled a car up, and kicked it down, causing a lot of drones to be destroyed.

“Gotcha,” Quentin muttered, eyeing Kris. He pressed a few buttons on his interface that laid on his left arm. 

The drones surrounded Kris and started using fire on him. He ran up the bridge and swung off it, the top of it exploding behind him and fire burning his back.

“ _UN_ COOL! YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THESE SPIDEY SUITS COST?!” Kris yelled. Kris swung around the bridge as more Drones sent explosives his way, detonating mid-air. Kris dodged a few, still trying to shake off the multiple drones that followed him. He turned around and webbed some more down, but got hit by the cable bond of the bridge in the process. He shot a web grenade that covered at least three cable bonds of the bridge, having most of the drones caught in it. He webbed the bearings of the bridge and extinguished the fire by sliding his back against the water.

“Going up!” Kris said as he caught onto one of the drones. He swung himself over the two sides of the bridge and shot another web grenade, covering both sides. He circled the top of the bridge and lured the drones into hitting the side of the bridge. The momentum he got led him to go up higher than he expected from the trampoline-like webbing he weaved. He took it as an opportunity and webbed more drones, pulling everything down to the ground.

Explosions occurred behind him as he struck a pose. It wasn’t long before Kris got hit by an intense vibration, sort of like the Shocker guy he fought a few years ago, by the drones, knocking him into a nearby car. Followed by more, sending him and a few cars over the bridge and into the ocean

~~~

Kris weakly climbed up the lower parts of the bridge, panting heavily. He looked up at the circling drones that surrounded the bridge. He launched himself over to the bridge’s road, still panting to catch his breath. He pressed buttons on his web-shooters. Only small remnants of web fluid sprayed out weakly.

“Great. No webs…” Kris muttered. He looked over the car he hid behind and saw that there were still those extreme vibration weapons by a downed drone. To test what he was up against, Kris threw a soldier doll. It got blasted into the air and into the several drones that circled the bridge. It was immediately shot at, the fluff falling. 

~~~

Kris made himself a bomb of sorts. He messed with the wiring a bit and ripped out the seat belt from a nearby car. He tied it to the core of a drone that he messed around with and made a makeshift shield with the Tower Bridge sign and another seat belt.

“So this must be what Cap feels like when he wielded Mjolnir…” He whispered. He hopped on the spot a little and ran the fastest he could. Many drones clustered together and began shooting at him. He whirled the bomb and threw it. Just as he planned, the bomb detonated exactly where the drones clustered. Kris continued to run and jumped into the downed drone and positioned himself so that the vibrations would blast the shield and push him upward into the glass flor that Beck stood on. He grabbed Beck by the shirt and dangled him from the ceiling. “Your lies are _over,_ Beck.” 

“This certainly isn’t ideal, but… I have contingencies. EDITH?” A drone suddenly shot Kris and he got blasted to the other end of the corridor. Beck landed on his feet.

Kris gripped his side and coughed, standing up and looking at Beck from the other side of the corridor. “Just give me the glasses…” 

“You want _these?_ ” Quentin pulled out the glasses from under his mo-cap suit and held them up. The Mysterio suit appeared behind him and formed itself around him as an intimidation factor as more and more drones joined the corridor. “Come and get them.”

The drones activated their cloaking mechanism and the projection system. The corridor turned dark and green mist flowed over the floor. Kris took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He pulled out the blindfold Peter had woven him earlier and tightened it around his eyes. When he relaxed his posture, the classic white lines formed around his head. “ _Come on, Spider-Sense…_ ” 

He ran forth and dodged the attacks of the drones, one after the other, going closer to Beck. He jumped onto the ceiling and took down a few more drones, dodging an explosion on the way. He landed back onto the floor, grabbing a drone in front of him and slamming it onto the ground, ripping out two chunks of the drone on the way. He stabbed two drones with it, ran, and did a barrel roll onto another drone, stabbing it and using it as a shield to advance forward. 

“Why aren’t these drones firing?” Quentin asked, looking at the interface that laid on his left arm.

“ _You are in the strike zone. The chance of getting hit is—_ ”

“NO, _FIRE. ALL. THE DRONES. **NOW!!!**_ ” Beck roared. The drones that were beside him began shooting at Kris, advancing forward.

Kris ditched the shield and bounced off one of the drones, punching one of them into the other, causing it to shoot another one of its kind. He held down one of the last three drones, but got blasted back by another blast of vibration one last time, sending him to the corner of the bridge. He kicked one of the drones, grabbed the second last, and slammed it into the other one. All the drones are finished, except for the ones that were keeping his Mysterio illusion. He bounced off the wall and took down Mysterio. Shattering his fishbowl head to pieces all without saying a word.

Kris removed his blindfold and removed his mask, staring down at the man that laid before him. “You lied to me. And I trusted you.”

“I know. That’s the most… disappointing part. You’re a good person, Kristian. Such a weakness…” Beck pulled out the glasses from his mo-cap suit, holding it out for Kris to grab. “Stark was right. You _do_ deserve that.”

_BANG!_

Kris grabbed something from his right. He turned his head as the Quentin he had been previously talking to, vanished. The _real_ Quentin dropped his gun, lightly spasming. Glass shattered behind Kris. “You can’t trick me anymore.”

Kris swiftly took the glasses off of Beck. Beck, however, strangely dropped. Kris turned to the window of the corridor, putting on the glasses. “EDITH. Turn off the drones!”

“ _Biometric scan complete. Welcome back, Kristian. Shall I execute all cancellation protocols?_ ”

Kris panted heavily, looking out to the drones. “Do it. Execute them all.”

“ _Confirmed._ ”

All the drones flew back up to the satellite. Maria watched from afar.

“Thank you.” Kris smiled. His face hardened as he turned to the dying Beck, lying on the ground. “How could you do all this?”

“You’ll see, Kristian… People tend to believe… And nowadays… they’ll believe _anything._ ”

The con man didn’t move anymore. He appeared to be dead. Kris cautiously looked at Beck, prepared for any other last-minute surprise attacks Beck might try to pull off. “Is he…? Is this _real?_ ” 

“ _All illusions are down, Kristian._ ”

~~~

Kris limply walked down the bridge. He quickened his pace the second he saw Lysithea. Lysithea ran forth, dropping the mace she previously had and hugging him. “Lysithea.”

“Hey.”

“Are you okay?” Lysithea asked.

“I’m okay. _You_ okay?” Kris asked. He closed his eyes while they hugged.

“Yeah. Yeah.”

“Everybody else okay?”

“Yeah, everyone’s okay.”

“There were just the drones, they were following us, Spider-Man came and destroyed all the drones, and then they just stopped…” Lysithea paused “Was that _you?_ ”

“Yeah.” Kris responded. The two of them let go, staring into each other’s eyes. 

“Did you get him?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I, um... Brought that. In case you needed some help.”

“Thanks.” The two chuckled a little.

“Anyway, uh, so Spider-Man helped out. He, uh… he gave me this.” Lysithea explained, holding out the Lily Necklace. Only this time, it's broken. Kris looked at it with a disappointed look.

“No… _No!_ ” Lysithea looked up at him, who held her hands open, looking at the broken Lily necklace. “Oh, Lysithea, I’m so sorry, I had this plan—stupid plan, I wrote it all down, I was gonna buy you this, and give it to you in Paris, at the top of—” Lysithea leaned forward to kiss him. Kris blinked. His heart almost skipped a beat. “...And you kissed me.” 

Lysithea inhaled deeply before saying, “I don’t really have much luck when it comes to getting close to people, mostly because I am incredibly sharp-tongued with the others… which is why I lied. I wasn’t watching you just because I thought you were… Kid-Arachnid.” 

“That’s great.” Kris chuckled. He looked back at the broken necklace. “Sorry it’s broken.

“Actually, it kind of looks prettier, broken.”

Not knowing anything else to say, he said, “I really like you.”

“I really like you, too,” Lysithea responded. The two shared a kiss among the burning cars on the bridge. Once they pulled away from each other, they both awkwardly stared into each other’s eyes. Lysithea broke the silence by saying, “I’m still mad about you ditching me in Prague, though.”

“ _Really?_ ”

“Yes.” Lysithea turned around and started walking. “And I’ll never let you forget it.” She turned to the mace she dropped and turned back to him. She shrugged at him. “Just in case.” 

Kris smiled at her, and she smiled back. He celebrated by pumping his fist in the air and putting tons of springs into his steps.

~~~

The plane ride back was great. Kris got what he wanted back in the first plane ride. Lysithea leaned on his shoulder, and he leaned on her head. They woke up a bit from the feeling of the plane slowly descending, and smiled at each other before going to sleep again.

~~~

They walked together to the arrival place in the airport, holding hands, Kris’ EDITH glasses resting on his shirt, while his actual glasses were on his face. Kris turned to Lysithea. “You sure nobody else figured it out besides you and Gwen?”

“Yeah, I mean… it’s not like anyone really pays attention to you.” Lysithea said with a straight face.

Kris blinked his mouth open. “Ouch.”

“Except for me,” She quickly added.

“Aw, thanks!”

“Don’t be late.”

“I won’t.” Lysithea walked ahead to meet with her family. Kris called out to her. “See you later!”

“You guys are so cute together,” Emma commented.

“Really? But, uh, I was thinking that maybe we should all… I don’t know, go on a double date or something.” Kris suggested.

“Perhaps,” Claude said. Kris rolled his eyes at him.

~~~

Kris exited the airport. He turned to see his cousins waiting for him. “Hey, guys!” 

The five of them immediately brisk walked to him, hugging him. “I’m so glad you’re okay!” Marlene exclaimed.

“No, for real, I’m good. I’m actually… Really fine,” Kris said.

“Let’s go,” Nicolette added.

“Where’re your bags?” Isabelle asked.

“Just a hunch, but they were blown up,” Ivy said, looking at Kris’ empty hands. He nodded.

~~~

Kris started swinging around New York, remembering to meet Lysithea near Grand Central. He swung around, texting, and occasionally tossing his phone up into the air and catching it. He snagged a selfie, doing the peace sign before he wall-ran across an office. “Sorry!”

Kris pulled up his phone to see his chat history with Lysithea. “On my way! :) 2 min” 

“Don’t text and swing!” Lysithea's message read.

Kris continued swinging around, enjoying the time of his life. He looked up to see a bus, but he quickly pulled himself upward, did a backflip, and continued swinging. He flipped onto a building, webbing the top of it as he ran to support himself because he was running in a slanted surface. He leapt, expanding his web wings. “ _Woo-hoo!_ ”

He swung a bit before spotting Lysithea. Kris directed himself toward her direction and spun around when he grabbed a pole and landed beside her. “Hey. Sorry, I’m late!”

Lysithea shoved her hands in her pockets. “It’s fine.” 

“You ready?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re gonna love this…” Kris picked her up and with a mighty leap, they started swinging. Not as romantic as he originally thought it would, because of how rough-ish the swinging really was. Lysithea was visibly uncomfortable and screamed a lot.

“Okay! Okay! Okay!” She repeatedly shouted. “I’m not gonna watch! I’m not gonna watch!”

“It's fun, right?” He asked jokingly. Judging by her screaming, it wasn't fun. For her, at least. He just had to worry about accidentally letting her go. She buried her face in his shoulder, and that threw him off for a bit. Fortunately, he was able to quickly recover. At the expense of Lysithea screaming her lungs out.

~~~

“You can put me down now! You can put me down, now!” Lysithea shouted.

The two of them land in the middle of Manhattan, Hell’s Kitchen. Kris placed her down gently. Her hair dragged itself off his masked face as she pulled herself away. She stumbled back, disoriented. “You okay?” 

“Whoo… Yeah! Yeah, I'm okay. Just… never, never, gonna do that again. I’m never doing that again.” Lysithea said, trying her best to sound enthusiastic, even after expressing her very obvious fear of swinging.

“Okay. Well, I should probably get out of here.”

“Be safe.”

“See you later.” Kris jumped onto a light post and waved at Lysithea one last time before he turned to the large screens that displayed in front of him.

“ _This is breaking news. _”__

____

“ _We come to you now with revelations about last week’s attack in London. An anonymous source provided this video, it shows Quentin Beck, aka, Mysterio, moments before his death. A warning, you may find this video disturbing._ ”

____

Kris directed his attention toward the screen the second “last week’s attack in London” entered his ears. He shifted his whole body to face the screens. The screens cut to Mysterio. 

____

“ _I managed to send the Elemental back into the dimensional rift, but I don’t think I’m gonna make it off this bridge alive. Kid-Arachnid attacked me for some reason. He has an army of weaponized drones, Stark technology. He’s saying he’s the only one who's gonna be the new Iron Man, no one else._ ”

____

“ _Are you sure you want to commence the drone attack? There will be significant casualties._ ” Kris glanced at Lysithea worriedly. She returned the glance, and the both of them turned back to the screens.

____

“ _Do it. Execute them all._ ”

____

The sound of drones firing and people screaming played in the video. Kris’ posture tensed up and Lysithea had her eyes squinted, the newscaster came back on screen.

____

“ _This shocking video was released earlier today on the controversial news website, ‘TheDailyBugle.net.’_ ”

____

“ _There you have it, folks. Conclusive proof that Kid-Arachnid was responsible for the brutal murder of Mysterio! An inter-dimensional warrior who gave his life to protect our planet, and who will no doubt go down in history as the greatest superhero of all time. But that's not all, folks. Here’s the real blockbuster. Brace yourselves, you might wanna sit down._ ”

____

“ _Kid-Arachnid’s real… Kid-Arachnid’s real name is…_ ”

____

Kris had his eyes widened. He couldn’t believe it. This _had_ to have been a dream. A horrible nightmare. Come on, brain, _wake up!_

____

“ _Kid-Arachnid’s name is Kristian Echarri!_ ”

____

His worst nightmare came true. There it was. A picture of him covered the whole, entire screen. His heart started thumping uncomfortably hard in his chest and it practically pained him. His awkward, smiling face, used for the yearbook. Displayed on TV. His stomach churned and he wanted to vomit. But he suppressed the urge.

____

He brought his hands up to his head in shock.

“WHAT THE _FUCK?!_ ”

____


	28. It's About Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Mysterio exposed his identity, Kris decided on doing something no rational person would probably think of at that moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, I've been having writer's block, so I didn't really have any ideas for this chapter. Still, I managed to publish it today, though!

Frantically, he looked down at Lysithea. The fear in her eyes matched the icy panic coursing through his veins.

His first instinct was to grab her and run, but thankfully, logic settled in. He could already feel people staring at him, phones held aloft, the occasional flash going off from those who forgot to change their settings for the daytime light. They were all watching.

No one could see Kid-Arachnid with Lysithea now, it will only just confirm his identity. And worse, put his girlfriend in more danger than she already is.

Lysithea must have realized what he was going to do because she held a hand up towards him. “Wait—”

He shoots a web and swings off before she can finish the sentence. It's all too much. He needs to get out of here—as far away as he can.

His second irrational instinct is that he should call Tony. Tony could fix this.

~~~

Kris opened the door to his apartment, not bothering to even change to his normal clothes, now that his identity was revealed. There she was—standing in the living room, looking at him, as if she were expecting him. Isabelle. He assumed the others were outside, doing their own thing, but something about it just being Isabelle seemed terrifying. He let out a big sigh and said, “I was gonna tell you—”

“Don’t hold that with me,” Isabelle said. “What did I tell you? What do _we_ keep telling you?”

“Isabelle, I—”

“You run the other way, Kristian.” She stood up, advancing toward him and jabbing a finger at his direction. “That’s what I told him. After everything—after _everything_ that’s happened, _you_ come at me with this?”

“I didn’t ask for this!” Kris shouted, surprised at himself that he even rose his voice at his cousin. “I didn’t ask for— _any_ of this. But I have to do it. I have to—”

“No, you do not have to do anything.” Isabelle held out her hand. “You’re sixteen-years-old! You take that suit off, and give it to me right now.”

“You take the suit, and I’ll just make another!” Kris took a deep breath and paused, thinking to himself. “And if you take that one… I’ll just make another.”

“Why are you _doing_ this? I don’t want you to go out and put yourself in danger… we could barely stay calm when you come home late.” Kris opened his mouth to talk, but she quickly shushed him and said, “Our grandfather _died_ doing _nothing—_ ” She paused, taking deep breaths to try and remain composed. “His only crime was living, loving—us—” her voice broke, and the river started to run. “And you’re here, telling me, that you go out and look for people, like the ones who killed him—?”

She broke down, kneeling on the floor, hands covering eyes, and chest heaving. “We— _I_ can’t support that…”

Kris took off his mask and knelt down beside him. “I have a responsibility. I failed him, Isabelle. I—I really did. I have _so_ much I wanna tell you guys, but… I think I’ll save it for another time. But… now, I just… I just need you to know that everything I’ve done since he was taken from us was… to try and do good out there. And I know I’d eventually be found out, and… I get it. I don’t need you to accept it, I just—I just need you to understand.”

Kris placed a small kiss on her forehead and sighed. “I’ll be back. I always will. And if I’m not, you can ground me.” 

With that, Kris headed toward the door to his bedroom and pressed his forehead against it, trying to take in deep breaths. He rubbed his eyes of the sting of tears and opened the door before closing behind it, pressing his back against it and sliding down until his knees reached his chest. After a few deep breaths, he finally calmed down and grabbed his bag, his wallet, phone, everything he needed. Everything needed for his trip.

He slid open the window and leapt out, swinging to San Francisco. He didn’t want to have to do it, but with the situation he was in, he doubted he had any other choice.

~~~

Kris paused at the Lang Household. He didn’t know if he could do it. But he needed the help. As much help as he could get. He knocked on the door. “Excuse me, Mr. Lang…? Or… _what’s her name, what’s her name…_ Uh… Cassie, is it?” He called. “It’s me. Kris. I’ve got nowhere else to go.”

The door opened, and Scott Lang stood by it. “Oh. Kris. Come in here, come on.”

“You’re fine with letting a fugitive inside your house?” Kris asked, weirded out a little bit by Scott.

“No, no, it’s fine. You’re just a kid, and… well, what the Mysterio guy said obviously can’t have happened, right?” Scott responded, ushering Kris inside the house.

~~~

“So… Mr. Lang, could I have some Pym Particles?” Kris asked, adjusting himself on the couch, a blanket resting on his shoulders and a warm cup of coffee in front of him. 

Scott blinked. “ _What?_ What for?”

Kris pauses. He’d have to lie to Scott, but he genuinely didn’t want to. Because he won’t be any different from Beck. But he needs it. “For a Science Project in my school…? I’m gonna send it to my friends, and they’ll have to do it for me, because obviously, the world thinks I caused a mass genocide in London. We’re researching it and how it worked.” Kris shrugged as he spoke, trying to make the conversation as casual as possible. 

“Okay.”

Kris blinked. He couldn’t have heard it right, right?“What?”

“Yeah. You can have some. We’re bug buddies, remember?” Scott said with a smile. Kris gave his best attempt to smile back, even if Spiders are Arachnids AND even if he just lied to him. Scott walked out of the room. “How many vials will you need?”

Kris thought about it for a while. “Ten’s fine. We wanna test the variables and stuff.”

Scott walks back into the room. “Here you go, bug junior. Just remember that the glass containing these are _very_ delicate.”

Kris tried his best to force a smile. But it didn’t help that he lied, going against his decision to always come clean. But this one, he didn’t know how to do it—especially to spin it so that he could convince Scott. “And thank _you,_ bug senior.” Kris grabbed the vial.“I’ll be off, now. Can’t bother you too much, or else you’ll be in jail, or house arrest. Again.”

Scott patted his back. “Alright, then. Run along now, bug buddy.”

~~~

Kris ran out of Scott’s apartment and swung to the Avengers Compound. Luckily, it had just been finished being rebuilt. He broke through the door, running all the way to the tech room was. He was going to have to start from scratch. And to make a time travel device. He wasn’t even sure if this would even be possible for him, at least. But at least, he had an EDITH. And that meant he could at least get notes from her. He slipped on the glasses. “EDITH?”

“ _Yes, Kristian?_ ”

The mere voice of her reminded him about how much he messed up during the summer vacation. He examined the tech. “How long would it take to create a time machine?”

“ _Judging by how difficult this would be, and the circumstances you’re under, it would be around a full year._ ” 

Wow. A year. And Tony was only able to crack it in a few hours. Not to mention Tony probably did the devices in just a week or so. But that was probably because of the resources he had. Now, Kris only had tech. No resources. He sighed. 

“This… is going to be the longest year I’ll ever have…”

~~~

Kris sat down on the rooftop of the compound, bottle of water in hand. It was Christmas Eve. And this was the first time he’s spent one, alone. In fact, he’s almost been cut off from the world completely. The small bit being him occasionally contacting Lysithea and Claude every now and then. But he couldn’t shake the feeling about how they would always begin the call with “It’s _just_ you, right?”

He sighed, pulling up the phone. He dialled Lysithea’s phone and put it up to his ear. “Hey, Lysithea.”

“ _It’s **just** you, right?_”

“I swear, you keep doing this every time I call. It’s kind of weird. But again, yes. It’s just me. Like I’ve said several times before, you know? Avengers Compound?” Kris got up and walked around the roof of the compound, sitting down and dangling his legs on the edge.

“ _Sorry. Just had to make sure. Anyway, what do you want to talk about?_ ”

“Well… anything. It’s been, like, what, a full month?” Kris enjoyed the view that overlooked the city. Especially at night. Something about the night time made him like it. Probably because he preferred Pokemon Moon over Pokemon Sun, but that was it. “I just—I don’t know, I kinda need human interaction right now.”

“ _Oh. What do you wanna talk about?_ ”

“Well… I’d say that the time travel device I’m working on is going pretty well, honestly. But aside from that, what’s going on with the world? What did I miss?” Kris never really got any more news about what the whole world thought of him yet. In fact, it’s been a bit quiet. Though, it’s a possible fact that future him travelled back to where he left. 

“ _Oh. Uh… you know that pocket-sized squirrel that’s really popular?_ ”

Kris propped his head. He knew for sure that the squirrel was fictional, especially since StarKid basically started it in The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals. But he decided to play along, wondering if the future him tried to come up with news that seemed believable, but didn’t, and got here. He could somewhat understand. He also didn’t know how to come up with news that seemed believable. “Peanuts?”

“ _Yeah. They started a fundraiser to make him a squirrel house, strangely enough._ ”

Kris laid down, looking at the moon. He definitely had the nagging feeling future him told her not to spill any news and give fake news. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. They really did.”

“Oh. Any new Netflix movies that we missed? I’ve just been catching up with the Wings of Fire TV show. Which, I ironically watched it on my phone.” He took a sip from his water bottle, looking up at the night sky. 

“There’s Over The Moon, if you haven't watched it yet,” Lysithea said. “Phillipa Soo’s there.”

Kris sat upright. He was a huge Hamilton fan, so he was a bit surprised. “ _Phillipa Soo?_ ”

“Y-yeah?”

Kris shook his head. “Like, the actress that played Eliza Hamilton?”

“Yeah.”

“OH MY GOD I’M WATCHING IT WHEN WE END THE CALL,” Kris shouted, completely forgetting his mouth was close to the phone. He realized that fact, and he quickly softened his voice. “Sorry. Just… really cool.”

~~~

“Okay… how about… EDITH, could you please look at a mod inspiration, and, uh let me see what check out. So, recommend one last sim before we pack it in for the night. This time, in the shape of a mobius strip, inverted, please.” Kris played around with a holographic model that displayed on a table. After many hours of watching movies that related to time travel and taking notes, along with reviewing Tony’s notes, he thought it was about time he worked on a model as a test run so he could get an idea on how it all worked.

“ _Processing…_ ” The model formed into a mobius strip.

“Give me that eigenvalue. That, particle factoring, and a spectral decomp. That’ll probably take a second.” Kris lifted his hands and started moving the hologram around. “And don’t worry if it doesn’t pan out…” Kris took a sip of orange juice. “I’m just kinda—”

“ _Model rendered._ ”

Kris blinked. “EDITH, tell me you aren’t playing a joke on me.”

“ _No, I’m not._ ”

Kris fell back onto the chair and stared into the hologram. He raised both hands in amazement. Ninety-nine point nine eight seven percent complete. All those hours of reviewing Tony’s notes and watching Doctor Who, Back to the Future, and basically all time travel movies, he finally cracked it. “Oh my goodness!”

“Now, it’s time for the more difficult part, the bracelet thingy…”

~~~

“Hoof…” Kris whispered, reacting to the small shock of electricity he had. He shook his hand. He was almost done with the bracelet. And in the background, he was playing Birth To My Creation just because it felt like a Frankenstein-y moment for him. Not to mention the rain that pattered on the glass as he worked on the bracelet. 

“Okay… EDITH, anything else I need to think of?”

“ _No. Not at all._ ”

Kris stretched his limbs, listening to his bones pop, cracked his knuckles, and went back to work. He was almost ready for the whole thing to go through. But he didn’t know if he was ready. For starters, he didn’t even know what to say, do, or anything in general. He was talking to a person who was dead. 

Or, at least, in this timeline. 

~~~

“Finally…” Kris’ face lit up. He slowly lifted the bracelet into the air, just like how Link did it in the older Legend of Zelda games. “It’s done!”

Kris slipped on the bracelet, admiring it. He sighed, setting the date to 2016. Activating the Quantum suit, he relaxed his posture. Checking to make sure the date was correct, he turned on the device. The last thing he saw was the lab in a bluish tint. 

But as he travelled through the Quantum Realm, the device malfunctioned. Kris tried to fix it, but it was too late—it sent him to another wormhole, which was much more different compared to what he planned. 

He materialized somewhere in the sky. Kris looked down, bracing himself on the impact for the fall.


	29. Back From Where We Began

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris, after landing from his fall, decided to call Tony. Only to realize it was 2012.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a pretty short chapter to tease the next chapters. No, I didn't write this one. Peterparkr (I don't know how does one @ them here on ao3) did. Again, this is just me being self-indulgent and was like "Dangit I'm just gonna post it because why not" so I did. It wasn't meant to be taken seriously. But the next following chapters were literally copy+pasted, so please, check out the original fic. (just copy paste idk how to freaking make links link-able if that makes sense)
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/19865533#work_endnotes

“ _Sir, incoming call._ ” JARVIS spoke.

Tony waited for the rest of the statement, for the 'from Miss Potts' or 'from Colonel Rhodes', but it never came. Tony frowned and glanced up from the projection in front of him, confused. JARVIS always said the name. At least he thought so, maybe he was remembering wrong, or maybe he changed it. He could be a bit spacey sometimes when he really gets into a project.

“From?” he prompted.

“ _I don’t know, sir._ ”

Tony’s eyebrows knit together. That was even odder. JARVIS was definitely supposed to filter out unknown numbers. “Then, why did you let it through?”

“ _I don’t know, sir,_ ” The AI repeated. Somehow, the AI sounded confused. Tony looked around warily, wondering if JARVIS had been compromised somehow. If his tech had been hacked, he was a sitting duck in a fortress full of things that could soon start attacking him.

“Okay, I’ll bite,” he said. “Answer the call and trace it, if you’re still listening to me.” He waited for the call to connect, drumming his fingers on the table in front of him.

“ _Mr. Stark?_ ” It was a kid's voice, it sounded hopeful, a little frantic. Tony’s first thought is that it was a fan—some kid genius who was able to hack into his systems enough to get a call through. It was impressive, which kept him on the phone.

“Who is this?” he asked. There’s a long pause. Tony almost decided to just disconnect the call.

“Kristian. It’s Kristian… _Riegan,_ Mr. Stark, but it’s Kris if you wanna keep it simple.” The voice was scared now. His squeaky voice betrayed his fright. It sounded almost like he thought that the name should mean something to Tony. He wracked his brain for anyone with the same name, but came up empty—he didn’t think he knew anyone under the age of 25.

He muted Kris’ line. “Do we _know_ a Kris?”

“ _Either he’s a different Kristian, or he’s the son of Mr. Echarri. But it couldn’t be. Mr. Echarri’s son is still eleven-years-old._ ”

Tony hadn’t heard that name in a long time. Echarri. It was at least six years ago that he received the news of (REDACTED) and (REDACTED)’s deaths. But the Kris he knew was still only eleven. The Kris that called him now sounded to be a fourteen or fifteen-year-old that recently sucked helium. He unmuted his line. “Okay, _Kris._ Want to tell me how you pulled this off? Honestly, I’m impressed. Maybe I can offer you an internship or a scholarship or something. You like money, right?”

A shaky breath was taken on the other end of the call. “What year is it?”

And that just made things go from tolerable and mildly amusing to downright annoying. “Did your DeLorean or TARDIS crash? Or are you coming off a bad trip? It’s 2012,” Tony snaps. “What is this, a prank? It’s not a great one, let me tell you.”

The kid, Kris, was crying now, but it sounded distant. He must be covering the receiver to try to stop Tony from hearing it. He sighed. “J? Got a location?”

“ _Still honing in on exact coordinates, but he’s in Branford._ ”

All the way across the country. This whole situation was bizarre, and it said a lot that Tony thought so. His life had always been abnormal, but in the last few years, the crazy has really ramped up a few notches. “Okay, kid, as much as I’ve loved this, I’ll be hanging up now. Bye-bye.” He heard Kris start to protest as he ended the call.

Seconds later, JARVIS announced the same number again. Tony declined it. It happened three more times (despite direct orders to block the number) until he was angry enough to pick up. As soon as he sorted out this mess with the kid, he needed to check JARVIS’ programming to figure out why this is happening.

“What.”

“Okay, listen, don't hang up.” Kris’ voice wasn’t wavering anymore, it sounded determined. “I can get myself to your tower, you don’t even need to pick me up, I just need access to your lab for a day, maybe two. I know I sound crazy—”

Tony hung up the call. He _was_ crazy, just another lunatic trying to gain access to a suit. But, another thought surfaced as well. The voice definitely belongs to a kid—or a man with a freakishly high voice, but Tony pushed aside that option for now. Someone could be using the kid to do this, he could be in danger, held at gunpoint even, to try to get some greedy sociopath into the tower. So, when Kris called again, he answered.

“Hi, it’s Kris again.”

Tony almost laughed in spite, himself. It’s either that, or scream in frustration. “So, as I was saying, I really, really need to use some of your lab equipment. I promise I won’t steal anything. I can probably get to the tower in 15 minutes. Maybe you could wait outside? So that security doesn't throw me out or something.”

The kid had guts, Tony would give him that. Not many people would ask Tony Stark to wait outside of his own tower for them. He couldn’t decide if it made Kris more suspicious or endearing. “There are so many problems with that plan, the biggest being that I’m in Malibu right now.”

“Oh, right,” Kris said. “I forgot you lived in California.” 

Tony frowned at the kid’s use of past-tense. But teenagers didn’t always have the best grammar—even the genius ones who somehow hacked into Stark technology. “Okay, maybe you could give me a code or something to get into your building. Or, like, call someone to let me in?”

That was it. The kid had no shame, absolutely none. Tony had honestly never encountered someone who thought he was dumb enough to hand over his building’s security codes to an absolute stranger over the phone. It was insulting. 

“Call your mom, kid,” he said gruffly, before hanging up.

Of course, Kris kept calling. Tony continued telling JARVIS to block the number, but nothing stopped the onslaught of incoming calls. He played music, loud, to drown out the alerts, but his AI insisted on pausing the song every few seconds to announce each new voicemail.

Tony sighed deeply, half-laughing. “JARVIS, why are you _doing_ this to me, buddy?”

The AI didn’t answer, just cheerfully chirped that another call was waiting.

Tony groaned. He pulled up all his files on JARVIS to find the problem, but he couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that the boy might actually be in trouble here. He had developed slightly more of a conscience over the last few years and it's telling him to at least make sure the kid was safe.

Tony lost count of how many alerts come through before he picked up again. This time, Kris’ lost the composure that he had the last time they had talked. 

“ _Please,_ Mr. Stark, I have nowhere else to go,” Kris said desperately.

Tony sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He couldn’t believe he was going to do what he was about to do. Developing a sort-of-conscious is a bitch. But, he’s supposed to be in New York in a week to finish the tower with Pepper, anyway. It won’t hurt too much to arrive a little early.

“I’ll get there when I get there. Don’t move, I have your coordinates.”

He hung up before the kid finished stammering a stream of thank you’s.


	30. Back To The Tower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once Tony told him to not move, he took it literally. Tony picked him up and brought him to the Tower.

He took a suit because it was faster than waiting for a private jet to get ready. It was dark by the time he arrived at the coordinates. He hovered a few hundred feet in the air above the location and had JARVIS zoom in on the ground below.

There was a boy there—Tony was relieved that it’s not the freaky high-voiced man. He seemed to have taken Tony’s instruction not to move very literally. He was sitting on the sidewalk in a not-so-great area of Branford at night, clutching a large backpack and looking absolutely miserable. With a sigh, Tony descended and landed right in front of him.

“Kris, I presume?” 

The kid looked up, eyes wide, then back down. He fiddled with his hands a bit while nodding. He cleared his throat a few times and when he looked back up his face was completely devoid of emotion. He stood quickly, favoring his right leg a bit. “Thank you so much, Mr. Stark. I’ll be out of your hair within two days.”

Tony looked the boy up and down. He was young, early-ish high school. His hair was sticking out in every direction, eyes red-rimmed and puffy with dark circles beneath. His clothes, a t-shirt, a hoodie, and pants look wrinkled and worn out, a little bit grimy. He was gripping his backpack as if his life depended on it.

Tony had a new theory. Kris was homeless, probably an orphan or a victim of abusive parents. He was trying to find his way off the streets through Tony.

“Slow down, kid,” Tony said. “I didn’t say I was taking you home with me. I just wanted to check out the situation.”

He watched Kris’ face flash a combination of anger, fear, and sorrow before going back to the calm, emotionless facade. 

“I’m just asking for two days. You’re, um—” It seemed hard for him to say the next word. “I—Iron Man. If I do anything you don’t like, you can always just kick me out.”

He was right. And it seemed wrong to leave a high school kid who waited for him all day on the streets.

“Fine,” he shrugged. “One wrong move and you’re out. I’m picking you up now.”

Kris squawked in surprise as Tony lifted him up and took off, but quickly resigned himself to hanging limp in Tony’s arms. It’s funny—most people don’t, at least not their first time around. They usually flailed their limbs around or at least chattered nervously for the whole flight. He landed on the tower’s balcony and set the kid down. The armor got taken off piece by piece.

When Tony looked back at Kris, he looked like he’s two seconds away from bursting into tears, his lower lip wobbling slightly. When he noticed Tony’s eyes on him, he bit the lip and his face melted back into a stoic expression.

“I don’t want to watch you make a mess of my equipment tonight so you can start your little project tomorrow.” Tony’s skeptical that there even _was_ something that the kid needs to work on. 

He pointed Kris in the direction of a guest room and told him to take a shower. Kris limped away to his old room. Tony hesitated, wondering if he should ask about it. But, it was really none of his business. He was already doing more than enough by letting the kid stay here.

~~~

As soon as Kris was out of Tony’s sight, the resolve he had used to keep up a poker face faded away. He swiped at his eyes as he made his way towards the room.

He was exhausted—both physically and mentally. He hadn’t been ready to see the Tony but not Tony person out there. Seeing the younger version of him had given Kris some sort of emotional whiplash. 

There was _so much_ of the same man, but also many subtle differences. His words seemed slightly harsher, but that could also be because he didn’t know who Kris was. It hurted to see no recognition in the man’s eyes.

He took a few deep breaths but it did nothing to stop the onslaught of memories. He had been trying to avoid them.

“ _You didn’t think this through. Don’t pretend you thought this through._ ”

Tony had been wrong about that before. Kris had made the decision to stay on the flying space donut and even to this day he didn’t exactly regret it. But the words rang true now. He brought his hands up to his hair and tugged slightly in frustration. He couldn’t believe how much he’s screwed up.

He couldn’t stop Tony’s death, he gave Beck EDITH, the world found out his secret identity, and _then_ he decided that the best solution is to go back in time and talk to Tony. 

It was a stupid plan, even stupider because he obviously must have _not_ made his version of Tony's device right. But he could have sworn he read through the notes to try and make sure he replicated it, but he learnt to swallow his pride. And so he did. He was five years earlier than he wanted to be—and he had materialized so high up. The fall had hurt.

He was trying to keep the tears to a minimum, but he could feel violent sobs and panic threatening to rise up his throat. He swallowed them down and tried to focus on what he could fix at this moment. He stripped off the pants that he had found in a dumpster (poor planning—he didn’t bring money because he thought he’d have Tony) near where he had landed.

He was trying to conserve web fluid (poor planning again), so he’d wadded up a bunch of paper towels from a public bathroom to stop the blood flow from the cut. 

He peeled off the soaked paper towels, wincing, and threw them into the wastebasket at the side of the bed. It was hard for him to see the wound clearly because it was on his calf. He had to twist his leg in a painful way to get a good look. Of course, he tried his best to avoid that, because he doesn’t like pain at all.

From what he could see, however, it was deeper than he initially thought. He was not even _sure_ what he hit as he fell, something sharp must have been sticking out from a building. He hopped in the shower and tried to clean out the cut. There was a lot of gunk in it, dirt and tiny flecks of paper towels.

His head was light and spinning by the time he turned the water off. Sleep would be the best decision. It would help in accelerating the healing. But, his mind wouldn’t quiet, hampered with anxiety. He needed to find real bandages. He needed to think. He needed to plan.

There were some clothes in the guest room that Kris assumed were Pepper’s clothes. He shivered a little as he sifted through the items. The weather outside was warm, but Tony had the air conditioning set low. 

He found a large sweatshirt with an MIT emblem that must actually be Tony’s, probably stolen by Pepper at some point. He pulled on pink and white striped pajama pants that fitted surprisingly well. Kris huffed out an approximation of a laugh. Tony would get a kick out of them—especially the fact that Pepper and he were nearly the same sizes. 

He carefully rolled the right leg up so that blood wouldn’t mark them and then limped out of the room to look for what he needed. 

In the penthouse, he found a roll of gauze that will suffice as bandages for now. He also found a pad of paper with Pepper’s handwriting on it. It was a to-do list. He ripped off the used page and started his own on the next.

The device was damaged. When Kris recovered enough from his fall, he realized that it was sparking and hissing a bit. With his luck, was surprised that it didn't start a fire.

_1) FIX THE TIME TRAVEL DEVICE_

It’s not an easy task, but Kris thought it’s more doable than the next one. The fall had shattered the vials of Pym particles that he had. It was the one thing he had actually planned sufficiently for. It had been easy to get them from Scott Lang.

He liked Kris, thought they’re bug buddies, and Kris supposed that they are. He’d felt bad tricking the man into giving him the vials for a ‘science project’. Scott was too trusting—just as he had been with Beck.

He didn’t want to have to do that to someone, but it had felt like the only option. He wasn’t thinking straight—his face was being blasted on every major news network. He brought five vials (The other five being used to test the device)—thought that was being over-cautious—and folded bubble wrap around them.

But the precautions hadn’t mattered, he’d landed right on them. All that’s left are some drops stuck in the bottom of one of the pieces of shattered glass.

_2) REPLICATE PYM PARTICLES_

It’s only two things, but both items were originally created by geniuses. Kris’ _definitely_ screwed. He looked at the paper, having the nagging feeling that he should add another thing. But he didn’t know if he could— _should_ do it. 

Sighing, he hesitantly added another item to the list.

_3)EVERYONE IS HERE_

He stared at it. It’s not _exactly_ an instruction, just a statement of fact. He didn’t know what to do with it.

~~~

The kid was up before Tony was. His heart faltered when he noticed the figure huddled on a couch in the penthouse. It’s honestly creepy, his eyes were hazy as if he was not really there. Just an empty husk of the person he used to be.

“Nearly gave me a heart attack,” Tony muttered.

Kris seemed to shudder to life, his posture straightening and eyes clearing up. But he still looked half-dead, like he could fall over at any minute.

Tony raised an eyebrow at the outfit. So he’d raided the clothes that Pepper had stored in the guest room. Interesting—but fair enough. Tony would rather he put on something clean than the dirty clothes he had been wearing. He decided not to comment on it.

Tony poured himself a bowl of cereal. He munched on it and noticed the kid watching him. Something in his mind clicked.

“Oh my god, I didn’t _feed_ you.” It sounded like he's talking about a dog. He drifted over to the pantry. It was pretty empty. “Your choices are cereal or cereal,” he joked.

It won him a small smirk. Nice to know that the kid had _other_ expressions besides ‘none whatsoever’ and ‘on the verge of a mental breakdown’. “Or you could make a green smoothie.”

Kris scrunched his nose in disgust. The boy scarfed down one bowl with a fervor that Tony has never seen before. He slid the box back towards him. Kris hesitantly poured another bowl and ate it just as fast.


	31. Constant Rescheduling / The Amazing Time Travel Explanation That Didn't Convince Tony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During the few days on his stay at Stark Tower, Kris had been doing nothing but running on a schedule during those few days. Not to mention the fact that he had been trying to avoid talking to Tony, only because he just couldn't bring himself to even talk to him.

Kris’ limp was less pronounced than the night before as Tony led him to the labs. He was reassured by it. He didn’t even know why he cared. ‘This is it then,” Tony gestured around the lab.

He was fully prepared to give the kid a crash course, then watch him try and fail to use the lab’s resources. Instead, Kris scuttled over to a workbench, still holding the giant backpack. He took something out of it. Tony strained to see what it was, but the boy obscured his view. His heart sped up a little, it could be a gun, a bomb. 

“Did you give me access to FRI—JARVIS?” Kris asked. Tony blinked. Kris bit his lip and looked anywhere except at him, fully anticipating a barrage of reasons why he shouldn’t use JARVIS, or a lecture. A thought quickly popped up in his head, and he used it. “I need him to use some of this stuff, right?”

Tony nodded. The kid knew more than he thought—about a lot of things it would seem. He’s already started picking up some tools that were lying around as well. “JARVIS, do what he says unless he’s about to blow himself up or some shit.”

Tony walked quickly around to the other side of the bench. Kris tried to use his hands to obscure the object from his view, but it was not effective as he originally thought. 

He narrowed his eyes at the object. It looked almost like a bracelet, a heavy-duty bracelet. Tony’s relieved that it's not a bomb, but he could also think of about a thousand ways to rig a bracelet into a weapon. Kris seemed almost competent enough to do so.

Tony couldn’t sit here and watch the kid all day, so he left, telling JARVIS to keep an eye on him. He hesitated at the door, turning back to the kid before continuing his route out of the lab.

~~~

Kris was running on fumes. His thoughts were muddled which wasn’t helping him in the lab. He couldn’t sleep because he needed to fix this before Tony kicked him out. 

He couldn’t figure out what’s wrong with the device because he didn’t have Tony’s notes and his sleep-deprived brain couldn’t produce coherent thoughts. Only “Fix bracelet”, or “Do it faster so Tony can’t kick you out”. It was a vicious cycle of exhaustion and disappointment. He didn’t have the energy to be a person; he even reverted to a base system. His brain was a program stuck in a loop, executing the same commands over and over.

_Try to fix the device—failed!_   
_Error: still sparking when powered on_   
_Reapply bandages to cut—success!_   
_Message: healing at his normal speed_   
_Replicate Pym particles—failed!_   
_Error: no idea where to start_   
_Try to sleep—failed!_   
_Error: nightmares, need to keep working_   
_Prevent mental breakdown—success!_   
_Message: avoided Tony_   
_Get food—failed!_   
_Error: Tony ran out of cereal_

On the third day, ‘reapply bandages’ failed to execute. He took off the gauze he’d put on the night before and the wound was surrounded by red and hot to the touch. He closed his eyes and tried to calm his breathing so that ‘prevent mental breakdown’ doesn’t fail as well.

~~~

Kris stayed longer than his allotted, two days. Tony couldn’t seem to bring himself to kick him out. He was not doing anything harmful, and Tony would be lying if he were to say he _wasn’t_ curious to see the finished product.

Except, he’s not sure if there _would_ be one. It’s been five days since Tony picked the kid up and he felt like he’s watching him fall apart, instead.

The bags under Kris’ eyes seem to have _grown_ rather than shrunk—JARVIS said that he spent almost whole nights in the lab, only occasionally dozing with his head on the table. He apologized profusely to Tony on the few occasions that they _do_ cross paths.

“Just _one more day,_ Mr. Stark, I’m so sorry, _so_ sorry. I’ll be gone soon, don’t worry.” He seemed panicked, a bit manic.

The limp became more prominent again after day three. JARVIS played Tony clips of Kris struggling to move around the lab. Tony had watched with concern before he reminded himself that he didn’t care.

Tony was looking over some of his calculations for converting the building to full arc reactor power when there was a knock on his bedroom door. Kris was standing outside of it sheepishly.

“Sorry to bother you, but do you have any Neosporin?”

Tony gave him a skeptical look. “Do I look like I have a baby?”

“It’s an antibiotic cream,” Kris said, but he sounded slightly unsure of himself.

“For babies,” Tony sniffed.

Kris looked so tired. It reminded Tony a little bit of how Rhodey and Pepper look at him sometimes when they’re over putting up with his BS. The kid even had the audacity to squint his eyes at Tony in annoyance.

“Do you have the grown-up version then?” he deadpanned.

Tony should have kicked the boy out days ago. “ _Why_ do you need it?”

Kris thinks for a minute like he's deciding how much to reveal. “I have a, um, cut.”

Tony’s gaze drifted down to Kris’ leg. No _way_ this kid is asking him for something if it's a minor cut. Kris hadn’t even asked him for food when the cereal ran out a few days ago. In fact, he seemed to be trying to avoid Tony at all costs.

“Let me see it.”

Kris started backing out of the room, shaking his head. Tony followed him, noting Kris’ strained face every time he placed weight on his right leg. He’s clearly trying not to limp as much in front of Tony.

Tony put his arms on the boy’s shoulders, ignoring his flinch, and steered him towards the couch. He gave Kris his best stern expression, hoping it conveys that he would have to wait as long as he has to.

Kris held eye contact for a few minutes before giving up. He sighed and rolled up his pant leg. Gauze covered almost the whole lower half of his leg. Tony vaguely wondered if Kris found it somewhere in the tower or if it was one of the items in his bag.

Kris gingerly ripped off the bandages, wincing slightly.

And that— _that_ was not a cut. Tony would call it more of a giant gash, a calf sliced in half. He wouldn’t be surprised if the muscle has been torn by it. It oozed pus. The kid’s tough, and it’s surprising that he had managed to walk around on it for so many days.

Tony whistled. “ _That’s_ going to need more than Neosporin.”

“Oh, I don’t know, Mr. Stark. I heal fast,” Kris said vaguely. “But I think it’s infected.”

“Oh, _really?_ Do you think? I _never_ would have guessed.” He pauses long enough for Kris to look sufficiently embarrassed. Tony sighed. “How did this even happen?”

The one thing that Tony knew for sure about Kris is that he’s not great at thinking up lies on the spot. Tony practically saw his mind racing for what to say. “Um, I landed—er, I mean tripped on something sharp?”

Tony stopped poking at Kris’ leg to shoot him a look of disbelief. “On what? A rusty metal spike? A razor blade?” Kris just averted his eyes. His face was completely closed off again.

Tony got up without a word. There’s got to be a first aid kit somewhere in this tower. Pepper thought of those sort of things. He found one in a different lab than the one he set Kris up in. He brought it back and started cleaning out the wound.

Kris tried to grab the supplies from him. “I can do it, Mr. Stark.”

Tony just swatted his hands away and continued. He can’t have a child dying from an untreated infection in his own building. It would be a whole thing to sort out.

Kris sighed and leaned back and screwed his eyes shut. Tony would never admit it out loud, barely even to himself, but he’s worried about the kid. Shivers ran through his body every so often as Tony worked; he probably had a fever due to the infection.

He clearly didn’t have a home or the means to take care of himself. And then there was also the lack of sleep and the obsession with the little bracelet. There’s something _really_ off. Tony's definitely out of his element.

The gash was just as deep as it had looked upon first glance. The kid flinched a little every time that Tony prodded at it. “You should probably have someone stitch this up.”

Kris shook his head adamantly. “I’m good.”

“I’d pay for it,” Tony offered. He had enough money after all.

Kris bristled. “I’m not here for your money.” He said it desperately like he’s trying to make Tony understand something.

“You could have fooled me. You’ve been using my equipment—worth millions, by the way—for days.”

It’s just an observation, but it came out way harsher than he meant it to sound. Something like hurt flashed in Kris’ eyes. Neither of them spoke again as Tony finished smoothing the bandages over the leg. As soon as Tony removed his hands, Kris got up and hobbled out of the room, waiting at the door.

“Just two more days, please.”

Tony nodded and Kris left. He felt like he kicked a damn puppy. He scooped up the antiseptic cream and some bandages and placed them on the floor outside the room Kris has been staying in.

~~~

The two days pass. Tony hasn’t seen Kris in person at all throughout them. An extra cereal bowl showed up in the dishwasher every once in a while, so he knew that Kris was eating at least something and JARVIS showed him footage of the lab occasionally, but those are the only signs that Tony even has a guest.

He was trying to figure out a tactful way to ask the kid to leave. If he couldn’t, he’d settle for a harsher one. Kris couldn’t stay forever. Pepper will be here soon and he didn’t want to have to explain this to her.

“Sir, there’s a situation in the lab.”

Tony sat up straighter. “What happened?”

“Our guest appears to be very agitated.”

Tony headed down quickly, taking steps two at a time. The first thing he noticed was that one of his work tables was severely dented. The tools and materials that had been on it were strewn about the lab as if there had been an explosion. But, thankfully, that couldn’t be the case because nothing looks charred or burnt. The second was that Kris is sobbing, chest heaving, body shaking, the whole deal.

“Are you hurt?” Tony asked.

Kris froze. A few seconds passed before he turned around and faced Tony. He looked wrecked. JARVIS said that he hadn’t slept, not even just a quick nap in the lab, for over 72 hours. That’s a long time, even by Tony’s standards.

“No, sorry, sorry.” Kris swiped at the tears but it did nothing to quell them. “Mr. Stark—I don’t know what to do.”

And this was just so far from what Tony thought he had signed up for when he picked up this kid. He _never_ should have answered the phone that day, _never_ should have flown to the city. Because now, this boy was looking at him for comfort, and Tony was so far from being equipped to deal with that. _Hell,_ he doesn’t _want_ to be equipped for that.

He just stared from the door of the lab while the kid sniffled and looked at him with gleaming, trusting eyes. Tony didn’t know when he gained that trust, and he didn’t necessarily want it. Kris kept taking large breaths like he’s trying to calm himself. It made Tony uncomfortable. He took one step backward, and then another. Maybe he can just leave the kid to it, come back when JARVIS says he has calmed down.

“I don’t _know_ how to fix it, I’ve tried _everything_ I can think of. I must have fried it really bad…”

Tony stopped his retreat from the room. That sounded like something he might actually be able to help with. He’s an engineer, a genius, and he would do _anything_ to stop the breakdown occurring in front of him (as long as it didn’t include addressing any emotional problems). Only then the kid would leave and Tony can go back to his admittedly abnormal life.

“I can fix anything,” he said. “What’s your bracelet supposed to do?”

Kris studied him thoughtfully, taking a few more breaths. “You’re going to think I’m _insane._ ”

Tony was just glad that his words have seemed to stem the tears a bit. He waved his hand impatiently for Kris to continue. “I don’t even know if I _can_ tell you, the universe might _implode_ or something.” The kid said it sincerely like he actually believed it.

“Just spit it out. I don’t have all day.”

Kris ran a shaky hand through his hair. “Okay, but you’ve got to _promise_ you’ll believe me. Or at the very _least,_ just hear me out.”

Tony was quickly losing his patience. He was about five seconds away from showing Kris to the door. He told him as much. “It’s a device to travel through time,” Kris mumbles

Tony _couldn’t_ have heard that right. “Come again?”

Kris repeated it and Tony felt all of the concern he had felt on the boy’s behalf subside. Rage bubbles up to replace it. This whole thing had been an elaborate prank after all.

“You’re trying to tell _me,_ your bracelet is a _time machine? Really?_ That’s the best you could come up with. Who put you up to this?”

Kris looked frustrated, new tears springing to his eyes. “You said you’d believe me.” Tony wanted to point out that he never did say that but decided that it’s not worth it. He spun on his heels and walked out of the room instead.

“Pack your bags—well, bag, singular, I guess,” Tony said flippantly. “Don’t _make_ me use a suit.” Tony’s heart gives a slight twist at Kris’ expression against his will. All of the trust that had been there, minutes before, was gone. He was looking at Tony like he’d just signed the order for his death. “Look, kid, I can give you some cash to help you out. But, you can't stay here.”

The boy was practically trembling. “Mr. Stark, please, _please._ I’m from the future. I could—I could prove it somehow. Let me think.”

Tony shook his head, tries to walk away from the kid again. Kris followed him, rambling desperately. Tony refused to look back. He didn't want to give any indication that the antics might be wearing him down. “It’s 2012 right? Okay, 2012. Jeezum, I don't even know what month—has the Battle Of New York happened yet?”

That made Tony pause, but he quickly shook himself. The kid’s out of options. He’d say _anything_ to try to get Tony to let him stay here. It's not even a creative name for a make-believe battle.

“I’ll take that as a no. Okay, so there are aliens. I don’t know if you know that yet. _I_ didn’t in 2012, but I was pretty young and you’re, well, _you._ Wow, I’m going against _every_ time travel movie I’ve ever watched just to get here by telling you anything. Um, the Avengers form, Loki—”

Tony’s blood ran cold. “How do _you_ know about the Avengers Initiative? Is Fury behind this, then?”

“No!” Kris shouted. “I’m trying to tell you that I’m from the _future!_ If you would just listen—”

“I’m putting on a suit. If you know what’s good for you, you'll be gone before I get back.”

The tear-tracks lining Kris’ face was pretty devastating. Tony did his best to ignore them.

Kris stormed into the kitchen and piled a few boxes of cereal into his backpack. All Tony could do was watch in shock, because apparently his life had now become some strange homeless boy robbing him of his breakfast.

“I’ll be around,” he said vaguely, walking towards the door. “When you _realize_ I’m telling the truth, please call me or something.”

The door slammed shut. Tony let out a sigh of relief. Thank god _that’s_ over.

~~~

Kris had nowhere to go. Something about that slightly dire fact allowed him to stop panicking. His mind became a little clearer because it had to.

All he wanted was to go to his old apartment, have his aunt there to comfort him, and make him some of her awful chicken noodle soup. And his grandfather would be there. He missed them so much, every day, and right now they’re alive and in reach.

But, Kris _couldn’t_ go there. They might not even recognize him. Or worse, they would and then they would freak out before he could explain. If he did explain they probably wouldn’t believe him, just like Tony.

His next best option is to stay close. He couldn’t get back to the present without Tony—or at least prolonged access to Tony’s lab. The Battle Of New York must be soon. It happened on May 4th, the date was drilled into his head in his AP US History class. Kris hadn’t bothered to figure out what month it was currently, but based on the warm weather it had to be at least mid-April. He could make it on his own for a few weeks if he needs to.

He scaled Stark tower and set up base at the very top. He took out the notebook he grabbed from the penthouse and flipped to a new page, quickly jotting down a list of things he needed to survive, and where he could get them. He could sneak into the tower and siphon food and water from Tony. He felt a little bad about even thinking of it, but the man’s a billionaire. He could spare a few more boxes of cereal than the ones that Kris already took.

He slipped into his suit because it seems like the right thing to do. He was alone up here, out of his time, and no one knew where he was. The suit offered _some_ protection, so his identity wouldn’t be spilled for a second time if crime goes down nearby, but he just doesn’t want to fight crime now. He lacked the motivation to do so, anyway. The stolen MIT sweatshirt worked as a makeshift pillow. Kris bunched it up on the ground and laid down. He pulled out the time travel device and held it up above him, twirling it around beneath the backdrop of the sky. He lowered it and clutched it to his chest, willing it to just _work._ His eyelids were so heavy; they started to droop.

They were startled back open by the sound of repulsors. He watched the Iron Man suit take off from the balcony below and instinctively tried to plaster himself as low to the ground as possible. He wished he’d brought the new stealth-suit that Fury gave him.

It didn’t matter in the end, because Tony’s gone, flying into the night.

Kris frowned, conflicted between following Tony and staying at the tower. The battle happened in New York, and Tony would have to come back here eventually. He stayed put. The tower went dark, which sent tendrils of dread through Kris. A powerless tower would dampen his plans to live off of it. But, just as suddenly, it flickers back to life.

When the suit returned, Kris breathed a sigh of relief. Tony, a few floors below him was a safety net in case something went _really_ wrong. He wouldn’t have wanted to stay up here for a long time without knowing that the man was below.

Kris hadn’t caught a break since he got bit by the spider, so he was not surprised when the back of his hand started to itch. It didn’t feel like danger, though, which was a blessing. He sat up slowly and glanced over the side of the building to see a blacked-out vehicle pull up at the front of the tower. A man gets out and walks towards the entrance.

The situation had SHIELD written all over it. Kris stuck upside down on the side of the building so he could peek into the penthouse. His hearing was good enough so that he should be able to catch any conversation that occurred inside.

Watching Pepper and Tony together caused a deep ache throughout his body—a combination of guilt and misery. Pepper lost Tony _far_ too soon.

Kris ignored the prickling behind his eyes and focused on the conversation. It’s definitely about bringing the team together, which was a stroke of good fortune, for once. The Battle would happen soon and Tony would know that he’s telling the truth. Only then, he could get out of here.


	32. The Battle Of New York / Post-Battle Celebrations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris relived the events he never saw before, aside from the Battle Of New York. He got to save the Helicarrier, and soon after, he got to participate in the Battle Of New York.

When Coulson showed up, Tony tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach. It didn’t mean that Kris was telling the truth. Things happened, and it was only a matter of time before the world experienced a threat.

When he saw ‘Loki’ in the files, his heart stopped. He replayed the footage of Kris saying the name over and over in disbelief. Tony wasn’t an idiot. There were only a handful of ways the kid could have known the man who was going to threaten the earth. Either Kris had access to Shield's intel and they’ve known about the threat for longer than they’ve been saying or he’s on Loki's side. A third explanation itches at the back of his mind.

“ _I’m trying to tell you that I’m from the future._ ”

For now, Tony pushes his questions about the boy aside. He has bigger problems to deal with.

~~~

When the SHIELD agent left with Pepper, Kris followed. The decision was quick, maybe even rash. He shoved his belongings into his backpack and scurried down the side of the tower. He tried to web along behind the car as discreetly as possible. Heroes weren’t as common yet back in 2012, _especially_ not a kid with webs.

When the car hit the interstate, Kris hopped from semi to semi, the odd car if he had to (but people noticed that which wasn’t great), to keep up with the vehicle. Phil dropped Pepper at LaGuardia, like he said he would, and then turned the car back towards Manhattan.

Kris groaned but followed.

~~~

On the flight back from Germany, Tony had JARVIS pull up Kris’ number. The ‘Loki’ character that he had referenced a few days ago now sat at least six feet away from him. Tony didn’t know what side Kris is on, but he _did_ know that the boy could have important information.

Lightning struck and he forgot all about it.

~~~

The so-called ‘team’ was a _nightmare._ Their personalities were all too large to relinquish any control in order to work together. Some of their ideals clashed and their goals differed.

It didn’t matter, because the ship was hit. As he and the Captain rushed towards the broken engine, Tony realized that maybe teams don’t always form because they should logically work. Maybe they formed because there’s no other choice.

He assessed the damage on the aircraft, told Cap what he needed to do, and got to work. Just as he was about to start pushing the propeller, he heard a voice.

“Hey, Mr. Stark, need any help?”

Tony looked up so fast that his suit whirred in protest. That’s the kid’s voice, but it's not his face that came into Tony’s view. Instead, there’s a red mask, with big eyes. He’s hanging upside down, holding onto a line of some kind.

“Who is that, Stark? Is he hostile?” Cap asked.

Tony gave bug-eyes a pointed look from beneath the helmet. “I don't know.”

Kris shook his head furiously. “Hey! Wait, you _remember_ me, right? I'm Kris, from the tower? I’m one of the good guys!”

“Then get over there and make sure the old man pulls the right lever.”

The mask zipped out of Tony’s view and he tuned out anything else that Cap and Kris might be talking about. Working out who Kris actually was, and why his suit looked suspiciously like something Tony would make could wait until later.

~~~

They saved the ship but lost a man.

“And will _somebody_ please explain to me who this _boy_ is, and _how_ he got on board?” Fury demanded after he finished waving around Phil’s trading cards.

Kris waved his mask behind his back and grimaced, looking to Tony for help. Tony refused to even acknowledge him. He didn’t know who the kid was, or why he seemed to be following him around.

“Stark knows him,” Steve said.

Tony rolled his eyes as Fury fixed him with a glare. He opened his mouth to say that actually he has no idea who the kid is, but something about Kris’ wide-eyed expression changes his mind.

“This is Kristian,” he said instead, shrugging. “Maybe he’ll come in handy.”

Kris’ posture relaxed. He smiled, wide and bright, so different from anything that came over his face at the tower. Tony didn’t return it. 

Once Fury’s finished interrogating Kris on his abilities, Tony dragged the kid from the room.

“Okay, _Bug Boy,_ ” Tony said, gripping the front of Kris’ suit. “Tell me who you _really_ are.”

Kris didn’t seem fazed by Tony’s aggressive demeanor. “It's _Kid-Arachnid,_ I _literally_ just told everyone in there. I _know_ you heard it.”

Tony loosened his grip to rub his forehead. _This_ was why he didn’t know any teenagers and never _wanted_ to know any teenagers.

“Tell me who you are, the _whole_ truth, or you’re out.”

Kris’ face twisted into a pained expression. “I _told_ you, I’m from the future.”

Tony wanted to interrupt, start yelling at the kid, but he bit his tongue. There’s a small part of him that might be willing to believe it if the story made sense. That part kept him in check for now.

“I'm Kristian, um, _Echarri._ Riegan’s my friend’s last name. I knew you would look me up and I’m, like, eleven right now,” He looked at Tony cautiously, trying to gauge if he believed him. “I got bit by a genetically engineered spider and it basically rewrote my DNA. And, um, I became an Avenger, I guess. A lot of stuff happened. You created time travel! You’re the one who figured it out and everything. And I, well, I needed to go back in time, but no one would let me. So I used your notes to make my own device but I must have messed it up somehow because it didn’t take me to the coordinates I put in. It dropped me too far back and, like, _really_ high in the air.”

Tony looked down at Kris’ leg without thinking. Hitting something sharp as he was falling a large distance could create that cut. He still had so many questions, though. “Why did you need to go back in time?”

The guard went up on Kris’ face again, like they had been back at the tower.

“I need something. But it's not, uh, not ready yet,” he said, eyes darting from the floor to the ceiling, but never landing on Tony. It’s so vague. Tony raised an eyebrow skeptically, but decided not to press it. The kid’s entitled to some secrets.

“You any good?” he asked instead. “In a fight, I mean.”

Kris smirked. “I would hope so, I mean—you _did_ recruit me.”

Tony’s eyes widened. He didn’t see himself as someone who would be recruiting anyone—let alone into Nick’s secret boy band.

It also explained a lot about the kid. He probably mistook the recruitment process for something like a friendship, mentorship, or something. It explained his familiarity with Tony and Stark tech. At least this meant he’d be helpful, and Tony trusted himself to know potential at least.

“Good. We’re going to need all the help we can get. And you already know what happens.”

“I wouldn't say I _know_ what happens. All I remember was trying to get out of the city, and then the footage afterward.”

~~~

The kid was _good._ Tony couldn’t help but keep an eye on him as he swung around the city, weaving webs that trapped the Chitauri.

“Try to destroy as much of their tech as you can, don’t just disable it,” Kris said at one point.

“We’re just trying to scrap our way out of this, disabling it might be as good as it gets,” Steve replied.

“Why?” Tony asked. He was slowly starting to believe the time-traveler thing. If this _could_ cost them the fight, he needed to know.

Kris tried his best to think of a way to phrase it without sounding like he _knew_ it was going to happen. That might just lead to a series of misunderstandings for him and lead the Avengers (Aside from Tony, of course.) into thinking he’s a bad guy. Or him in this universe, anyway. “Um, it might become a problem in the future. Criminals might get their hands on it and stuff. Not that big of a deal.”

Tony noted it, tried to destroy as much as he could. He hoped that the rest of the team did the same, for whatever future event Kris was trying to prevent.

The team was _actually_ working. If it weren’t so chaotic, and lives weren’t at stake, it would be breathtaking. Cap boosted Natasha onto one of the alien vehicles, Clint’s arrows hit a target, the Hulk smashed two aliens together, and Kris flipped through the sky.

Then, Fury told him about the nuke. He’s holding it. He’s in space. There were so many ships—the universe was infinite and the earth was so impossibly outmatched.

~~~

Kris felt guilty even _thinking_ it, but the Battle Of New York is fun.

 _Logically,_ he knew that a lot of people lose their lives today, which was the total opposite of fun. But it was kind of like going back and being a part of the Revolutionary War, knowing the outcome, and getting to play a part in one of history’s greatest events. Or like coming back to one of his favourite games and replaying the fun levels. 

The stakes also felt so low. Kris knew that the Avengers would win. But, even if he didn’t, defending New York from a few aliens led by Loki was _nothing_ compared to trying to take out a titan with all six infinity stones, hell-bent on wiping out half the universe.

The Avengers, of course, didn’t feel so lightly about the incident. They’re stressed, fully believing that their world was about to come crashing down around them. Kris felt old—wise. It’s weird. He could sort of understand how adults look at children when they experience their first heartbreak or loss. There’s so much worse yet to come. This was _nothing._

But then, Tony mentioned the nuke. He plastered himself to the side of a building to catch his breath. It's fine, he reminded himself, it's what happens. Tony risked it all and totally saved the day, but he lives. Kris’ seen the footage. He’d taped news articles about it to his wall after the fact.

The reassurances didn’t stop the fears from raging through his mind. Kris was here now, which made this time different from before. It seemed inconsequential, but in any movie with time-travel, the thing that messed everything up the most always seems unimportant. The Butterfly Effect.

“Stark, you _know_ that’s a one-way trip.”

Steve’s voice sends chills up Kris’ spine. He couldn’t breathe.

“Mr. Stark,” he choked out. “B-be careful.”

Tony didn’t answer.

Kris sees Steve and Thor on the ground and leaps over to them. He can’t stop fidgeting and chattering nervously at them. They ignore him completely—all turn their heads to track the Iron Man suit shooting up the side of the tower with the missile on its back.

Tony's in there.

“He’s going to be okay,” Kris said.

Steve spared him a sad glance before staring back at the wormhole. Tony’s taking longer than Kris thought he would, to reemerge, he started tapping his foot impatiently.

Steve told Nat to close the portal. Kris spun towards him.

“Why would you _do_ that?” He shoved Steve's shoulder a little bit. “He’s still up there, you—! You idiot! What are you _doing?_ ”

Steve didn’t say anything, just shook his head and moved slightly out of Kris’ reach. Anger rose fast—Steve just sent an order to effectively trap Tony in space.

Before he could do anything about it, Thor spoke. “Stark knew what he was doing. He was a brave man.”

Kris’ chest felt so tight, each breath was taking tremendous effort, he couldn’t seem to get enough air. He knew that his own inhales were loud and shaky. Steve and Thor were looking at him, then they glanced at each other, clearly uncomfortable, but he didn’t care. The portal was closing.

Just as Kris was about to give up all hope completely, a human-shaped figure slips out of space.

“Son of a _gun._ ”

“He’s not slowing down.” Thor started spinning his hammer, ready to fly.

Tony’s falling, fast. Kris needed to do something. He didn't know what to do. 

The Hulk did. He came out of nowhere and grabbed Tony's falling body, throwing it to the side.

A wobbling grin stretched over Kris’ face. He’d been worrying for nothing. Of _course_ Tony was fine, this had happened before. He followed Steve and Thor over to the suit. Thor threw the faceplate off.

And Tony’s not moving or breathing. The arc reactor wasn't even _glowing._ Tony _needed_ to live at this point. Something’s wrong, _very_ wrong. Kris’ chest started to seize up again. 

He couldn’t watch Tony die, _not again._

~~~

“ _Is this what happened last time?_ ”

“ _What are you talking about? Son, you need to calm down._ ”

“ _This can’t be right. Oh my goodness, I caused this oh my gord, no, Mr. Stark, please, please, PLEASE._ ”

The Hulk roared. Tony’s awake.

“No, Tony, Tony, Tony, no.” The kid was sobbing, Steve awkwardly patting him on the back.

Tony ignored that, making some jokes, saying something about shawarma. Kris shot over to him, he’s still crying uncontrollably. His whole body shuddered with it.

“We’re not finished,” Thor said, eyeing Stark Tower.

“And then, shawarma after?” Tony joked.

The damn kid wouldn’t stop his freak-out session. Steve helped Tony to his feet and Kris came up with him, clinging on to Tony’s armor as if it’s the only thing keeping him alive. It reminded Kris of what his cousins used to do with their grandfather, and he's literally doing it, but with the arm instead of the torso. Clinging onto Tony with his legs still limp.

Tony wanted to shake him off. Then, he realized there’s no reason why he shouldn’t. He moved his arm up and down a bit but Kris doesn’t budge. He took his other hand and tried to pry him off. The kid stuck like glue.

The other Avengers were watching the whole thing with something like judgment. Tony’s not sure if it’s for him or Kris. Probably both. “You guys head up, I’ll be there once I get the leech off.”

He expected the comment to offend Kris into unsticking. If anything, he gripped on tighter.

“Is he a son of Stark?” Tony heard Thor ask as they headed towards the tower.

Tony blanched, because no, obviously not, but also what really does Tony know? “Are you mine? Biologically?”

That seemed to shock Kris back to life. “No, no. I told you, I'm from the Echarri Family.”

“Then, do you want to tell me what's going on right now? Because I thought you said you were an Avenger.” That made the kid cry harder, but he nodded mechanically. He’s still not letting go. “Well, that implies that you’ve been in battles before—that you can handle a battle like this. And if I’m not mistaken, I’m the one who just flew a _god damn nuke_ into outer space, _Echarri._ So if anyone should be flipping out right now, it should be _me!_ ”

Tony meant it as a joke, but his voice came out high-pitched and breathy at the end. _Okay,_ so _maybe_ he is also losing it a bit.

“ _Why do you do that? Why do you always sacrifice yourself?_ ”

That always was what does it. Nobody ever pegged Tony as one to sacrifice himself. In fact, people said the complete opposite, most recently, Steve Rogers. He thought back on the kid’s behavior since he arrived here. The almost tears when Tony took off his mask that first night at the tower, the contradiction between avoidance and following, the half answered questions.

“So I’m what’s not ready yet.” It stung a little bit.

Kris’ eyes shined up at him. “I didn’t mean it like that. I need help. And you don’t even _know_ me yet, Tony.”

The kid wouldn’t stop shaking, the only part of him that held firm were his sticky hands. Tony took off for the tower without a word. Kris clung.

~~~

They dealt with Loki. Tony didn’t look at Kris, a difficult feat when he’s literally attached to his armor. They found a shawarma joint where Kris finally unstuck. He ate a few bites and then rests his head on the table. He wasn’t one to normally eat vegetables. In fact, he practically despised it. But he didn’t want to seem picky in front of the adults, so he forced himself to eat it. 

Tony almost reached out to rub his back—an instinct that shocked him. Instead, he reached for another piece of food. Natasha reached over the table and placed a hand on Kris’ shoulder. Today had been full of surprises, he hadn’t seen her as the type.

“You did great out there,” she said.

Kris lifted his head and gave her a lined smile.

Rogers seemed to think that they’re close enough to do silent conversations now. He caught Tony's eyes, looked at the boy, and then back at Tony.

Tony interpreted it as ‘what's up with that guy?’, so he just shrugged.

Kris stuffed a few water bottles in the jacket that he wore, with the Avengers all staring at him weird. He knew he had to think of something fast, or else they would just think he’s a weirdo that really liked water. “Uh… hydration’s important!”

The rest nodded in agreement, their eyes still fixated on Kris before they went their separate ways.

~~~

Kris stopped. He was on the elevated platform for Grand Central Station, and he could see people working on the destruction. He crouched down to see none other than Adrian Toomes. He thought nothing of it, seeing as all of the alien tech’s disabled… _right?_

He then turned his attention to the hall just beside, where he could see _her._ His aunt. Crushed under rubble, blood splattered on the ground, and dust still falling from the ceiling. The six other children that sat beside her, crying, was who he thought they were. Him, and his cousins. It felt odd. Weird. 

Part of him just wanted to go in there and comfort them. Another part of him was telling him that it may rupture the space-time continuum. Still, he dropped down, because back then in his timeline, he had no one to talk to during that moment. Nobody even found them until the Damage Control moved to the hall, which should be about thirty minutes from now, based on what he could remember.

“Hey!” Kris jogged as he waved his hand in the air to get the attention of his past cousins and self. It was only then that rationality settled in, and he realized that he didn’t even think of what to say or do. He stopped, searching for words. “You guys, uh… you guys okay…?”

Yeah—he should definitely have stopped and thought. Now, he probably looked like a guy who can’t even read the room. But the children didn’t answer. They didn’t even spare a glance. They just continued looking down on their mother or aunt, still crying. Kris sighed, crouching down to their level. 

“Okay, um… I’m not going to ask you to stop crying and man up, because… well… that’s obviously inappropriate. But, uh… it’ll all be okay. I understand what you guys’re going through… kinda.” The cousins flicked their heads toward him, as if to say, ‘you don’t know what we’re going through’. He sighed, removing his jacket and giving them the water bottles he recently stuffed it in and covering them all in a jacket. “Listen. I know you don’t know me, and the world… probably seems scary. But it’ll be okay—just know that in the darkness, you can find the light, and it can guide you out of that darkness. Trust me, I’ve been there before. But I’m also not saying you should get better right away. Just take your time, you know? Take as much time as you want, and then when the wounds are finally healed, you can push forth.”

“Thanks, Mister…” The younger Kris looked up to him. “Mister…”

“Kid-Arachnid.” Kris stood up and reached out his hand. “Come on—you guys gotta get back to civilization, or else you’ll probably be deserted here for a long time.”

His younger cousins took one of his fingers each, and his younger self nervously grabbed his hand. He had to bend over lower than he expected—and it was because of how tall he was compared to his younger self and cousins. It’s weird. His younger self would most likely take on the mantle with his name, thinking of where he might have gone. But it’ll most likely make sense when Tony tells him or something. 

“Oh, and be sure to stay hydrated—I brought those bottles for a reason. And also get plenty of sleep, because you’ll need it.” Kris’ lenses winked at his younger counterpart. Of course, younger him wouldn’t understand _now,_ but maybe in the distant future.

~~~

Tony brought Bruce back to show him the tower and Kris came as well. Kris dashes toward his ‘room’ (or just the guest room, because he was kicked out just last week.) as soon as they arrive at the floor.

“So, who _is_ he then?” Bruce asked.

Tony shook his head. “It's a _long_ story. I don’t think he’s even telling me the whole thing.”

“He’s young. Seemed pretty shaken up by the whole thing. Rogers said he was losing it when you flew the nuke up there.”

Tony stiffened at the reference to the wormhole. He gulped back the white-hot fear that it caused.

“I’ll talk to him.” It’s meant to placate Bruce and it did. Tony didn’t think he’d actually follow through on it.

~~~

Tony had never been one to get much sleep. It’s not a priority for him. His mind was constantly innovating and creating. Sleep just dampered the process. It got worse after Afghanistan, and now the dreams had increased twofold.

He didn’t even _try_ much anymore, he just worked on suits. It gave him a sense of control; if he could make the best suit, he had the best chance of protecting the world.

JARVIS told him that Kris had nightmares too. The boy paced his room every night, in the same pattern, over and over. Then around 3 AM, almost like clockwork, Kris went into the lab adjacent to the one Tony occupied and started tinkering with his device. They haven’t been in the same room since they got to the tower, and haven’t spoken a word.

Tony thought about time travel though, when he’s not busy coming up with new suit ideas. He didn’t know how his future self might have done it—it seemed as impossible as ever. He tentatively had JARVIS test a few things but nothing panned out.

The routine changed after about two weeks. JARVIS alerted Tony that Kris left his room at the usual time, but a few minutes later, the door of the lab that Tony was in opens. He glanced up as Kris made his way towards him.

“Look, I know you don’t like having me here,” Kris started. “I’m never going to be able to leave if you don’t help me. I don’t know how to fix it. I’m trying. I’m _really,_ really trying.”

Tony didn’t want to admit that he’s been trying too. He already knew that he’s not the man that Kris wanted him to be. He’s not yet the guy that Kris’ dreams were undoubtedly about. If Tony’s being honest with himself, he didn’t think he ever _could_ be the type of man that had this teenager looking up to him. The one thing he thought he could live up to was the brain. His brain should be the same, but he hadn’t been able to crack this.

“Do you have the notes—er, _my_ notes—that you used to make it?” Tony asked.

Kris looked like he's going to cry again. “No, I’m so _stupid._ I don’t know _why_ I didn’t bring them.”

“Calm down. Can you explain them to me, what you remember at least?”

Kris did.


	33. The Return Of The Science Bros / Bonding Is Fun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Kris and Tony finally started to work along with Tony, they were slowly but surely reconnecting.

They started to work together. It’s good because all Kris had ever wanted since Tony died was to be around his mentor again. It’s bad because this wasn’t the same guy, not exactly. It made Kris sad more often than not, but he also needed Tony’s help. And Tony remembered to order _actual_ food for Kris instead of giving him cereal, since they’re usually in the lab together now. The pros outweighed the cons. 

Tony kept telling him to repeat everything he remembered about the notes. He said it’s because it’ll help him remember more. Kris thought it’s actually because Tony’s used to having his AI repeat things out loud while he worked.

Kris’ going through it for the fifth or maybe the sixth time of the day when Tony’s face lit up.

“That’s _it!_ ” He’s child-like in his delight. “Well, _not_ it, it, but I think I’m getting somewhere.”

He told JARVIS to change a few things to the design and he ran analytics. The change fixed a few of the problems they had been facing previously. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s progress. Hope bloomed in Kris’ chest.

“Just like that,” Tony said, holding his hand up and snapping it on the last word. “We’re _really_ getting somewhere now.”

The hope was quickly replaced by something more sinister. The snap seemed to reverberate through him. Flashes of the battle after the blip surfaced in his vision. He blinked rapidly to try to stop them.

“Woah, you’re not keeling over on me, are you?” Kris leaned heavily on the table, he felt light-headed. It took tremendous effort to even shake his head.

Tony’s lip twisted in a knowing way. “Are you ever going to tell me what happens? I’m curious. I must have a really big hero moment if you’re this cut up about it.”

“Yeah— _big hero_ —moment.” Kris tried to match Tony’s blasé tone, but his voice came out even shakier than he feels.

“Seriously, you seem pretty traumatized. I’ve been told it helps to talk about shit.” His grin was wolfish. “Not that I’ve ever taken that advice.”

“‘M not traumatized.” Kris set his jaw, determined.

Tony squinted a little bit, cocked his head to the side. “Oh, yeah? Prove it. Tell me what happened. Or— _happens,_ I guess.”

Kris didn’t know if he _could_ do that. Or if he _should_ do that. He knew that this past won’t affect his own future, but he didn’t know what happens to this timeline after he’s gone. He hadn’t messed with any infinity stones, which was what fixed the separated timelines after the Time Heist. But, something must happen to this Tony, right? His life must go on.

He’s about to tell Tony as much, that he couldn’t do this, didn’t want to mess with the space-time continuum. Not again. But Tony had a cocky smirk on his face. It said that he didn’t think Kris would be able to do it. It’s ironically fitting that he’d always feel the need to prove himself to this same man.

“Okay.” Kris didn’t miss the surprised raise of Tony’s eyebrows. “Where do you want to start?”

“ _You._ Why'd I bring _you_ into this?”

The inflection on you was slightly offending to him. “Well, uh, remember the Echarris? Your family friends, or something like that? Well, um, they died like six years ago or something like that, my aunt and grandpa took me in—my aunt died, sadly, and my gramps’ also gonna die pretty soon, and you showed up one afternoon, talking with my cousins, and I reached home kinda late because I was getting snacks and stuff, and, uh, you recruited me because of my skill or something, but not to the Avengers, but to go to Germany with you for… stuff. And the rest is history. Or… future, in your case.”

Tony looked taken aback, but he recovered quickly. “So I made your suit, right, and the webs?”

“Peter made the webs before you, but I joined in when he basically became my mentor for a while before you,” Kris corrected, satisfied when Tony looks impressed. His expression then changed to a slightly confused one.

“Who’s Peter?”

“ _Peter._ Uh, he basically butted in on the Avengers to join, but in this timeline, it’s probably different, since I basically took his place or something. Anyway, you were, like, interested in the guy so you tracked down who he was through something, talked to him, and you became his mentor. You were really surprised, because you were expecting, like, a twenty-year-old just by voice and stature alone or something. He was also bitten by a genetically engineered spider.”

“What year are you from, anyway. How soon do I die?” Tony chuckled drily after he said it, but it made Kris’ whole body stiffen. He messed with his hands a bit to try to calm himself.

“It’s 2024, but it was about a year ago for me,” he whispered.

Tony pursed his lips. “Didn’t you say you’re like eleven now in _2012?_ No way, you’re _twenty-one._ Your math is way off, kid. You almost had me thinking you were smart.”

“I’m seventeen. But, my math’snot wrong. It’s a long story.”

“Tell it.”

Kris sighed because Tony really _was_ going to make him relive the whole darn thing. “Do you know anything about the infinity stones? The tesseract is one of them.”

Tony started to look apprehensive, but he quickly covered it with a flashy grin. “I think the God of Thunder himself said something about them.”

“Well, there are five others. One is in Loki's scepter. They’re, um, super powerful.”

Tony leaned his head to the side to check his watch. “Yeah, I got that. Keep going.”

He’s really starting to piss Kris off. He was definitely even _more_ infuriating when he was younger. Kris’ glad they met from whenever he could remember.

“Okay, well, there's this guy, um.” The name tripped him up. It shouldn’t. He didn’t _deserve_ his fear.

Tony noticed and thankfully, took pity on Kris. He waved for him to continue. “Name doesn’t matter, I’ll meet him soon enough.”

Kris wished more than anything that he could stop that meeting. “He was collecting all the stones so that he could kill half the universe because of overpopulation. It was really dumb—he called it _mercy._ ” The anger was creeping into Kris now, which was slightly good—better than fear.

“There’s this other guy, Dr. Strange—that’s his real name, can you believe it? He had the time stone, but he cast a spell—”

“I’m sorry. Did you say ‘spell’?”

“Oh yeah. Forgot to mention, he’s a wizard.”

“What the hell…” Tony sounded tired, knowing that he’s going to have to deal with all of this at some point.

“I told you it’s a long story. Anyway, the bad guys kidnap the wizard because the spell won’t let them rip the stone off him and they take him onto their spaceship. You told me to go home but I didn’t listen—sorry—so then we’re in space. And I came up with this awesome plan to get rid of the guy who was torturing Dr. Strange. Then, we crash land on this planet—” Kris looked up to see that Tony's pupils were blown, his face was at least three shades lighter than it should be. “Um—Mr. Stark, are you—”

“The guy you won’t say the name of, he’s an _alien?_ I die in _space?_ Does he manage to kill _half_ the world? Is _that_ why you’re here? I _knew_ we were outmatched.”

Tony’s definitely freaking out. Kris definitely shouldn’t have told him anything, he knew it would be a mistake. “Yes, he's an alien. But, no—”

Before Kris could finish, Tony’s stumbling out of the lab, clutching his chest. Kris followed on his heels.

“Mr. Stark, _Mr. Stark?_ ” The man in question was muttering things under his breath that Kris couldn’t quite make out, even with his hearing. “Tony, are you okay?”

The hand on his arc reactor was making Kris nervous. “FRIDAY, is his heart okay? Wait, no, I mean JARVIS?”

The automated voice was calm, and comforting. “ _His heart rate is elevated, but physically, he is fine._ ”

Kris nodded and crouched down next to where Tony had slumped on the floor with his eyes closed. He placed a hand on his shoulder just for it to be shoved off.

“Tony, you’re okay, I shouldn’t have told you about it, I’m sorry.” Kris tried to keep his voice steady.

That caused Tony to open his eyes, he seemed to be breathing a little less heavily. “I made—you tell me.”

Kris wracked his brain for other topics to distract Tony. “So, uh, they reboot Star Wars In 2015. The first one was okay, nothing on the originals though. The main character’s a girl—which is great! For like, feminist reasons. She’s really cool. Her name’s Rey. She lived on a planet alone for a really long time and—”

“What are you doing?” Tony interrupted. “Stop talking about space.”

“Oops, sorry.” Kris looked for more topics. “OH! Uh, so there’s also these series of movies, you probably know ‘em, it’s called ‘MCU’. You might’ve heard about them. So, like, these teams of people, right? They go really in depth with research just to get the most accurate movies and stuff, so you’ll have to deal with more reporters later on. Uh, there’s this Tom Holland guy, who’s surprisingly resemblant to a younger Peter and stuff, and we have video games! We got video games and stuff. Peter got his video game before you and stuff, because people just really like Spider-Man... ish, more than you.”

Tony groaned and massaged his chest, then his head. “ _God,_ what the hell was that?”

“ _I believe it was an anxiety attack, sir._ ” JARVIS supplied helpfully.

“ _Seriously?_ ” Tony let his head fall onto his knees.

Kris feels like he's intruding on a moment he shouldn't be seeing. It's like looking backstage at all the actors getting their costumes on before the play starts. He remembers Peter telling him that Tony was a complete mess. He'd only half-believed it at the time.

As Tony starts to look more relaxed he also starts to look increasingly embarrassed. He has no need to be. Kris wants to lighten the awkward heavy feeling in the room.

“Mr. Stark, you seem _pretty_ traumatized,” he parroted, trying to get the same inflection as Tony had earlier.

There’s a moment after when Kris thought he made the wrong call. But, then Tony breathed out a laugh.

“Touché,” he said.

~~~

A few hours after the ‘Incident’ (Tony refused to call it an anxiety attack, no matter what his extremely intelligent AI says), Tony heard a soft thud behind him. He turned from the hologram in front of him to see that Kris had dozed off by the microscope. He had been analyzing the few Pym Particles that he had left.

It’s a good thing. The kid hadn’t had proper sleep since he landed himself back in time. Tony’s used to working without rest, but Kris probably wasn’t. (Despite the fact he spent a full year trying to develop the device with next to zero sleep whatsoever.) They’re going to need their combined brainpower to solve this. Tony turned down the music a bit so the heavy instruments wouldn’t wake Kris up and cause him to continue working.

“Hey, JARVIS,” Tony said quietly.

“ _Hello, sir._ ”

“Do you think he's telling the truth—about everything?” There's a pause. Tony worries his lip as he waits for the response.

“ _I don’t see what reason he would have to lie, sir. He has nothing to gain from it._ ”

Tony sighed. “I thought the same. Hoped you’d see it differently.”

He gave Kris a long glance. The kid’s not _bad._ He's smart, a little funny, had a _little_ bit of a defiant streak. Tony could definitely see _why_ his future self chose him to be an Avenger.

He shouldn’t have pushed Kris to tell him what happened earlier—and not just because of the Incident. The kid was clearly uncomfortable, but Tony kept egging him on.

He should have done better until they fixed the device, but he wasn’t sure if he knew how. He had exactly zero experience with kids. He didn’t even feel like he ever truly _was_ one at a point. He was almost through with college when he was Kris’ age. Pretty impressive, really.

He worked for about an hour longer before Kris startled awake.

“ _Shit,_ sorry,” he said, wiping a bit of dried drool from the side of his mouth. Kris tried to go immediately back to work, but he just kind of stared at the materials in front of him, dazed. “Go back to sleep,” Tony told him. “Head up to your room, if you want.”

Kris shook his head rapidly, but his eyelids droop. “I can’t let you work on my problem alone. And—I haven't been able to sleep in the room anyway.”

“Then keep sleeping right there.”

Tony turned around to signify that it was the final word. He expected some pushback but there’s only the soft music playing. After a few minutes of it, Tony turned back around to make sure the kid hadn't started working again.

He hadn’t. He’s conked out, mouth wide open, neck twisted in a way that’d leave him with a hell of a crick when he wakes up. Tony couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

~~~

Pepper didn’t like the situation.

“You’re telling _me,_ that a _teenager_ hacks JARVIS to call you, _lies_ about who he is, has _super-human abilities, claims_ he’s a _time traveler_ who you’re close to in the future, and he’s _asleep_ in _your_ lab _right now?_ ”

“Pep, I _really_ think he’s telling the truth. He knew things about the attack on New York before they happened.” She shot him an unconvinced look. “C’mon, when have I been a bad judge of character?”

“Oh, I don’t know, Obediah?” And, ouch. That’s a low blow. It’s also accurate. “Listen, Tony, if he knew things about the attack it’s probably because he was _in on it!_ ”

He couldn’t tell her that the main reason he believed Kris is because of his reaction after the attack. The kid’s proven to be too bad of a liar to fake his reaction to Tony’s fall. To explain the reaction, he’d have to explain the future as Kris knows it. He couldn’t burden Pepper with that. She’s already at her wit’s end with the whole nuke thing.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to come up with a response, because of Kris padding into the kitchen. His mouth formed an almost perfect circle when he saw Pepper. His eyes are puffy from his—Tony glanced down at his watch—5 hour nap, not bad. They’re also a little red, Tony hopes it’s from exhaustion, not crying. 

“Oh, sorry, I didn't realize Mo—” Kris wanted to die the second he said ‘mom’, but he was proud he stopped himself. “Mrs. Sta—” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Ms. _Potts._ Was here. Er, hi!” His brow furrowed and he hesitantly stuck out a hand towards her.

“Nice to meet you?”

He looked towards Tony, silently asking if that was the right response if he told Pepper the truth or not. Tony shook his head, but it’s too late, Pepper already started to pounce.

“Funny, I was under the impression that you had met me before, well, _future_ me.” She fixed Kris with a withering stare.

Kris swallows hard, eyes darting between Pepper and Tony. “Yes, I have, sorry, I didn’t know, ma’am, if Tony was going to tell you that or not.”

Pepper narrowed her eyes. “Are you _implying_ that Tony makes a habit of lying to me in the future?”

Kris paled. “Oh my gord, no, no, no. That’s not what I meant, sorry Ms. Potts.”

Tony had to stop this because Pepper would push forever and Kris would keep apologizing for almost as long. “Did you need something, Echart?”

The nickname slipped off his tongue before he realized what he said. Kris looked as uncomfortable as Tony felt—at first, Tony thought it’s because of the nickname (It was Kris’ original nickname from Tony. Context was that Kris accidentally said ‘Echart’ instead of ‘Echarri’ on the day he met, and he’d sparingly use it on him.) and he cursed himself for using it. He should apologize for overstepping. His goal was _not_ to be what the other guy was for Kris. “It’s nothing, I’ll just leave you guys to talk, sorry.”

As he backed away, Tony realized the kid’s hands were shaking. Something’s wrong. He didn’t know if it’s the confrontation with Pepper or something else. In the spirit of doing better, he decided to ask. “Kid, wait, what's up?”

Kris’ face crumpled. He crossed his arms over his stomach like he’s trying to hold himself together. “It’s nothing. Just had a not-so-great dream, not a big deal,” he said, in a tone that suggested it really _was_ a big deal. He swiped at his pants. “Got a little nervous when you weren’t in the lab anymore.”

Tony grimaced. He could sympathize with the nightmare situation but didn’t know exactly how to provide comfort. He was about to clap an awkward hand on Kris’ back and send him on his way, but Pepper stepped forward instead.

“Oh, you poor thing.” She grabbed his arm and led him towards the kitchen area. Tony had never thought of Pepper as motherly, but it’s definitely not a bad look on her. Tony followed behind as she rubbed a comforting hand on Kris’ back before sitting him down. “Tony, where’s that recipe? For the soup you made when I was sick a few months ago.”

“JARVIS, give it to her.”

Kris turned to Tony with a shocked expression. “You _cook?_ And _I’ve_ been living off cereal and, occasionally, _takeout_ since I got here? I mean—don’t get me wrong, I _loved_ the McDonalds and Burger King, but you didn’t even _tell_ me that you could _cook?_ ”

“For Pepper,” Tony clarified. “I cook for Pepper.” Cue the woman in question berating him in outrage for not providing a child with proper nutrition.

After she got the soup started, Tony went up behind her, placing his hands on her waist as she stirred. “I told you so,” Tony whispered in her ear.

“He seems like a sweet kid.” She tapped his cheek lightly. “Still don’t believe in time travel.”

“I like the mother look on you, maybe we’ll have to try for a kid of our own later,” Tony murmured. “Still haven’t forgotten our plans from before.”

“Oh, you mean—” Pepper leaned in even closer and cupped her hands around her mouth.

“ _Super hearing!_ ” Kris suddenly blurted out. “Now seems like a good time to mention—enhanced senses— _really_ great ears!”

Tony and Pepper leapt apart. Kris’ face was aflame, cheeks burning. Pepper cleared her throat and went back to the soup. She shot Tony an angry glare and he could pretty easily glean the meaning from it— _why didn’t you tell me he had a super hearing?_

~~~

Kris didn’t make the mistake of falling asleep again and Tony didn’t try to make him. He’s not sure if it’s an oversight or if it’s kindness. They made steady progress, and the device was complete. But, they're struggling with the Pym Particles.

“Can’t we just _find_ Hank Pym?” Kris asked.”He should be able to spare a few vials.”

They’ve tried _everything,_ utilized _every_ chemical, piece of equipment, resource that Tony had. Kris had a sinking feeling that they were not going to be able to crack it.

The right side of Tony’s mouth twitched. “From what I understand, he’s _super_ protective of those things. Wouldn't let my old man have them, or _anyone_ at SHIELD. _No one_ was able to replicate them.”

“Probably smart because SHIELD’s basically HYDRA,” Kris mumbled.

“Speak up.”

“Nothing.”

Kris’ frustrated, to say the least. The table that he broke last time he got this tired and desperate sitting off to the side, waiting to be replaced. Kris wanted to dent another one. He clenched his fist, and then almost immediately shook his head and unclenched it. He never used to get so angry about things, even when they were terrible. The only exceptions were when his cousins would tease him about his writing and he’d start thrashing about and screaming. That’s the only exception. Kris hoped it’s just a substantial lack of sleep. He liked to think that the events of the last couple of years haven’t altered him into a person he didn’t want to be.

He wanted to go home. But, that won’t even solve his problems. The world he’s desperately trying to go back to would still know that he is Kid-Arachnid and they’ll also think he’s some terrorist-murderer. Which might even become the truth if he kept getting so angry at things. He’d already killed Mysterio. Or, maybe he hadn’t in light of the new developments, but he thought he had, which was pretty much the same thing.

His eyes started to fill against his will. It just made him want to punch something more. 

“Okay, we need a change of pace. We’ve been on this too long, we need to do something else for a bit.” Tony’s eyes were on Kris. He wondered how long they’ve been there.

“ _May I suggest that this ‘something else’ be sleep, sir?_ ”

“You may suggest it, but it’s _not_ gonna happen!” A bright grin settled itself on Tony’s face.

Tony seemed to be getting more cheerful the less he slept. There was a spring in his steps as he made his way to the other end of the lab. Kris didn’t get it. He followed behind Tony, dragging his feet. “We should keep working, Mr. Stark.” He sounded so whiny.

“We are working, just not on that. Want to help me with Mark XI? You’ll love it.”

“Mr. Stark, the Pym particles are more important.” He stomped his foot as he said it, which really wasn’t something he meant to do.

Tony quirked an eyebrow. “What are you going to do about it? Temper tantrum? Chill out.” Kris opened his mouth to fire back, but instead let it fall closed. He practically felt his energy deflate. His eyes were stinging so he quickly ducks his head. Tony clapped his hands. “Let’s see ‘em, J.”

Kris looked up, confused, as the wall behind Tony slid open. The revealed space housed five suits. Kris scanned over them in wonder.

“You like?” Tony pointed to a beat-up suit on the far left. “That’s the Mark VII, took a lot of damage from—well, you know. Fix it.”

Tony tossed Kris a wrench which he caught without looking away from the line of suits. “I thought we were working on the Mark XI?”

“Eh, changed my mind. I’m going to do the XI, you do the VII. Get to work. Direct any questions to JARVIS.”

There’s not really any arguing with Tony when he makes a decision. Not anything that would be successful. So, Kris got to work. He felt a little shy, working on such an iconic suit, for a man that didn’t even really know him. But, after about half an hour, he got lost in the work, even venturing to ask JARVIS questions out loud with Tony right there. The man never made a snarky comment like Kris was afraid he might.

It’s calming to simply find problems in the suit and solve them. It’s just Kris, some metal, and a disembodied voice answering his questions. The physicality of it, the pieces he could shift and touch were a nice distraction from staring down a microscope at the tiny components of Pym Particles, and even more so from the bigger, abstract problems that awaited him back home. And he actually managed to fix it. Well, he thought he did.

“Mr. Stark?” Kris held out the Mark VII’s bracelets. “Do you want to test it?”

Tony looked up at Kris over the rims of his glasses. “Nah. Go for it.”

“What? Go for what?”

“Test it yourself. I’ll probably never use that one again, to be honest.”

Kris’ face scrunched up, landing somewhere between confused and annoyed. He just spent hours on something that would never be used and he didn’t know what to make of that. But, he _did_ want to know if his work was a success, so he slapped the bracelets on and summoned the armor anyway. It did exactly what it is supposed to do. He snapped open the faceplate and couldn't contain his excitement, a grin stretched over his face. “ _It works!_ ”

“Yeah, it does,” Tony replied. “Nice job.”

Tony hadn’t even looked up as he said it, but it still made Kris want to pump a fist in the air and dance around. He tried to play it cool, but his smile grew impossibly wider. “Better?” Tony asked, still tweaking the Mark XI.

It took Kris a second to realize what he’s talking about. When he did, he’s more than a little bit shocked. He didn’t expect this younger Tony to notice or care how he was feeling. He’d given no indication of anything like that until now.

He took another second to think about the answer to the question. He’s no longer a compressed spring, threatening to be unleashed at any second.

“Um—yeah,” he said. “Better.”

“Back to the _real_ work then.”


	34. The Last Day Back In 2012

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Kris' last day—or night, back in 2012. And he didn't know how to spend it. But one thing surfaced in his mind, and he went through with that thought.

“If I’m not mistaken, that’s a _goddamn_ Pym Particle.”

Tony held up a scan they took of a confirmed Pym Particle when they first started working together and a scan that just finished running of their most recent attempt at replication. He couldn’t quite believe that they did it. He gestured for Kris to come closer. “Check me, kid, am I seeing things?"

“Oh. My. Goodness,” Kris replied, head swiveling back and forth between the two images. “Finally.” Tony grinned as Kris snatched the scans from him and started jumping up and down. “JARVIS, we did it! Oh, tell Ms. Potts we did it!”

The kid’s excitement was contagious. Tony couldn’t help himself from holding up a hand in his direction. Kris high-fived it—a little harder than he should be able to. Tony shook his stinging hand a little, but his smile didn’t falter.

“ _Great work, sirs._ ”

Tony couldn’t help but feel the curl of satisfaction in his stomach that he managed to do yet another task that Howard was unable to do. It felt _good._ But, he could focus on that once he got Kris home.

He’d be sad to see the kid go, which is all kinds of strange and unexpected. Even stranger, he couldn’t wait to meet Kris from his own time. He felt like he’s coming in a leg up on that one. He learned a lot over the past few weeks.

“It's pretty late. Do you want to wait until tomorrow, so that you can gather all your things? Maybe shut your eyes for a few hours.” Tony added the last part hesitantly—sleep had been a touchy subject.

The joy seeped off Kris’ face. “Oh.”

 _Oh?_ Tony grimaced. Sudden mood changes, which were already a staple of the teenage mind, having been alarmingly frequent. Stress and lack of sleep would do that to a person. He was hoping that the excitement of going home would outweigh any negative feelings about sleep, but of course, he was wrong.

“I’ve—I’ve got to go somewhere,” Kris blurted and then shot out of the lab.

Tony sat, stunned, for a second before he got up as well. “Kris, wait.” When he reached the penthouse, Pepper was on the balcony, staring out at the city. “Did he—” Tony started.

“That way.” She pointed toward Midtown.

“How could he change into his suit that fast,” Tony grumbled as he fiddles with the bracelets on his wrists.

“No suit,” Pepper said.

Right, because he’s about to leave this timeline, so his identity doesn’t matter. But it’ll give Tony a mess to clean up—thanks a lot, kid.

He takes off in the direction that Pepper pointed. “He’s gotta be going to Branford. Look for him, J.”

“ _Will do, sir._ ”

~~~

Tony found him on a fire escape, outside of an apartment, but it isn’t in Branford, surprisingly. It’s in Queens. He landed softly beside him.

“You know, your face is going to be plastered across Time Square within the hour,” Tony said. “Thank god it’s dark so they’ll mostly be blurry.”

Kris flinched but didn’t respond, he just stared through the window in front of him. Tony followed his gaze. There’s a family inside, eating dinner. The atmosphere around them was still dark. Kris already knew why. The boy at the table turned his head and even with glasses perched on his nose, it’s undeniably the miniature version of Kris.

“Your grandfather?” Tony guessed, looking at the old man. Kris nodded solemnly.

Tony did not want to touch the implications of that. “You’ll get to talk to them soon, kiddo. Your cousins _and_ grandfather. The device will work.”

“My grandfather’s dead,” Kris said flatly.

Tony cringed. Whoever qualified him a genius was wrong. (He forgot about that part). Apparently, he couldn’t read a situation to save his life.

“Well, that happens,” he said lamely.

As soon as he heard it out loud, he realized that it’s not the thing to say. He unconsciously shifted a little from Kris, expecting it to piss him off. He’d have every right to be mad. Tony should never try to go near emotional stuff. There were no old suits around for him to throw Kris at this time.

Instead, Kris remained frighteningly stoic. “Yeah, it does.” But, when the kid turned to him, there’s a wild glint in his eyes. It’s not angry, more manic. Which is somehow worse. “The future’s crap,” he said. “I’m staying.”

Kris never stopped blindsiding Tony. He’d worked himself into a sleep-deprived stupor to get that device online and now he didn’t even want to use it. “Kris, what? I’m sorry about your parents and grandparents. But, you can’t—”

“It’s not just about them! You don’t understand!”

“Then, enlighten me.”

They were in a stand-off for a minute. Tony’s glad he hadn’t lifted off the mask. He didn’t have to worry about his expression. Kris’ emotions were drawn like a map over his face. The kid swallowed thickly.

Kris started, reluctantly. “The thing is, you _died_ because of me. And I gave the AI you left me to the first guy who was nice to me—who turned out to be a psychopath, by the way! So, I had to kill him, or I thought I did, I don’t know anymore. But I don’t kill people! That’s not me, but now it is. And now my only family and girlfriend are going to be in danger because of me.”

“That’s a _really_ narcissistic take on things,” Tony said. “And that’s coming from me.”

Now, Kris stared daggers at him. “ _What?_ ”

“I’m just saying, not everything bad that happens is your fault. That’s not how it works. Nobody has that much sway.” As Tony said it, he realized that it’s not bad advice—probably something that he himself needed to learn as well.

“My grandfather died because of _me!_ If anything, _I_ should have been the one to stop it. I was—I was selfish, and I just—” Kris stopped, shutting his eyes to stop the tears.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but it doesn’t sound like it was your fault in the first place.” Kris’ face contorted as tears started to leak out of his eyes. “And before you continue like that—I’m a little foggy on the details of how exactly I die because I lost it last time you tried to tell me—but not a thing you can think of would have changed what I did. No offense, kid, but I’m stubborn like that.”

Before Tony could delve into the next item on the list, Kris interjected.

“EDITH was _my_ fault. There’s no way around it. I handed it straight over. And now, he... he told everyone my identity. It’s all over the place, everyone’s _seen_ it. And he _twisted_ the story! Everyone thinks _I_ was behind all of the attacks in Europe. They think I’m a murderer. A—and if he is still alive, he can control anything people see. Oh, god, is this even _real?_ ”

Tony blinked as Kris started scanning around worriedly. He didn’t know what Kris is talking about but the situation sounds, objectively, Not Good. He wished Pepper was here. She would know better than him how to deal with this. She’s in touch with her emotions—more so than Tony ever will be.

But, Kris didn’t come back here for Pepper. Or even for his dead grandparents, that’s no more than fifteen feet away from them right now. He came back for Tony. Tony could try to be the person that he needed for the duration of their time together.

“C'mon, we can’t sit here where your family could turn their heads and see us at any moment.”

Kris took a wary step away from Tony. “Answer the question. What’s something Mysterio _couldn’t_ know?”

Tony almost laughed at the ridiculous name, but Kris’ skittish demeanor stopped him. “I don’t know, kid. I don’t even know what you would know.” Kris didn’t move, his face completely blank like it was so often when he first got to the tower. Tony sighed and hoisted him up a few feet to the roof of the building.

Once Tony set him down, Kris started inching away, warily. Tony couldn’t stand it. “I promise this is real. I know that’s what your Mysterio man would say, too. But—hey! No way he would have a recording of me saying, Mysterio. I’ve never said that before. Asparagus! Wildebeest! Han-fucking-Solo! I can say anything, try me.”

It’s not _technically_ true, and Tony thought they both know that. This Mysterio guy could have other ways of approximating his voice, stringing syllables together or using an impressionist, but Tony’s antics caused Kris’ lips to twitch just a bit. It’s the smallest smile Tony’s ever seen, but he’d take what he could get.

“Look, kid, it will be alright.” Kris opened his mouth to talk. “Nope, don’t talk, zip it and listen. Take it from someone whose face is literally always up there on the big screens. On a good day, about half the world is fully on my side. On a bad day, it’s way less than that. But, sticking your head out there, trying to do what you think is right, you’re always going to get people who don’t like it. Someone’s always going to twist your words or your actions in ways that you didn’t even think were possible. Occupational hazard. They’d do it with just Spidey too, the only difference is your real name being thrown into the mix.”

Kris sighed. “But, I never _wanted_ my name out there. I just wanted to _help_ people.”

He’s so young and good. It’s breaking Tony’s heart. His first thought was to tell the kid how naive he is, but there’s something pure about it that he didn’t want to break just yet. Instead, he asked, “What do you want to do?”

Kris tilted his head to the side to look at Tony. “Do you want to clear your name or get rid of it _completely?_ ”

Kris looked shocked. From the short snippets, Tony had gleaned about what happened, it sounded like everything went down fast. The kid probably hadn’t had time to fully process any of it, let alone think about any options he has moving forward. He’s quite literally taking one thing at a time. It’s evident from the way he bolted when he realized that finishing their project meant it was time to leave.

“I don’t—which should I do?” The trust was back in full force. If Tony said one way or the other, he had no doubt that Kris would do exactly that.

“Which one do you _want_ to do? You said you never wanted your name out there, so if you’re leaning towards that, just go to Pepper. Actually, either way, go to Pepper. She’s used to spinning my real scandals. She can deal with this.” Kris didn’t look like he believed him. “Pepper will know how to handle it. I promise. She’s the most capable person on the planet. I don’t know the whole situation, but the Pepper in your time will. She’s probably already fixing it. Did you talk to her?”

Kris shook his head. He looked guiltily at the ground. “I just worked on getting to _you._ ”

Tony didn’t understand it—this kid’s absolute faith in him. He wanted to tell Kris how misguided it is. Instead, they fell into an uneasy silence. Tony almost filled it with a snide comment but refrained.

“ _Why did you tell everyone your identity?_ ” Kris finally whispers.

Tony laughed drily. “I’ve been in the news my whole life. For more bad things than good. I didn’t make Iron Man for good press, but I thought—I got up there and I wanted to show them. I was just trying to prove people wrong—nothing noble or anything.” Kris looked at him with an expression that Tony couldn’t read, so he kept going. “I can’t tell you if it was the right move or not, but I don’t regret it. Life has a funny way of working out the way it's meant to.”

Tony hadn’t known that he thought that, but it felt true. If he hadn’t been captured in Afghanistan, he never would have realized the damage his weapons were causing. He never would have made the suit, either. Nothing was perfect (Tony didn’t think he deserved perfect, anyway), but there did seem to be some sort of logical progression to the way his life played out. Especially if what Kris said about the future was true. Flashes of the expanse of space and weaponized ships floated to the surface of his mind. There’s a sort of cosmic justice to it—that he should give his life to protect the world from what he feared the most.

Kris interrupted his thoughts. “If this is how it’s meant to be, it kind of sucks.”

Tony huffed out a laugh that ended in a sigh. “I can't argue with _that._ ”


	35. Something Isn't Right...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After that night, Kris decided to relive one last memory of his before he leaves 2012. But as he was about to leave, something went wrong—not according to the original plan whatsoever.

Tony flew Kris home. He didn’t know _when_ he started thinking of the tower as home, but he supposed he’s been here in the past for a little while now. At least a few weeks. And if he let himself think about it, it’s not _really_ the tower, per se.

Kris had moved around a lot in his life, never outside of Queens, except maybe the time his parents left him, but his apartment building and bedroom were always shifting when he was younger. His family had always been poor and landlords were always raising prices. He'd felt a little guilty about it because Rena had never expected the expense of another child, which meant: six children, and an elderly man. He felt a bit bad about burdening his aunt with it, though. But the experiences had taught him that his home wasn’t a place, but people. His address didn’t matter as long as his aunt and grandfather were there.

Even with the metal surrounding them, Tony’s hands, gripping tightly under his shoulders, felt like that, too. Their conversation had made him feel a little better about his predicament back in his own time, but he still didn’t know how to leave.

When they arrived at the tower, Kris planted himself on a couch in the penthouse. “No sleep, then?”

He shook his head and Tony sat next to him. Tony flicked a movie on, but he didn’t pay attention to it. Tony didn’t seem to, either. When Kris chanced glances towards the man, he’s always looking out the window instead of at the screen in front of them.

Kris couldn’t believe how much has changed in the month and a half that he had been here. There was no way the Tony he had called on that first day would have sat with him through the night when there was no project to work on. If he wasn’t aware of how ridiculous it’d sound, he would say that Tony doesn't want Kris to leave either.

“How long until I meet you?” Tony suddenly asked, just as the first tendrils of light were starting to sneak over the skyline.

“Like… four years?”

“Oh, good. I get a four-year break from your ugly mug.” There’s no bite to it, whatsoever.

Kris didn’t mention the five-year one soon after that. Something in Tony’s voice confirmed his suspicions that the man would miss him. Maybe, no matter where or when or how they met, Tony would care at least a little bit about Kris.

There were so many things that Kris wanted to say—that he wanted to tell Tony, about the future, about the past. He kept coming back to Morgan, but he didn’t know for sure that this Tony’s future would go down the same way. And Tony hadn’t reacted well when Kris tried to tell him future events before. He wanted to explain to Tony how thankful he was for everything that he had done for him, and everything that he hadn’t (because at the end that was just as important). But, none of that has happened yet for the man sitting next to him.

~~~

Pepper found them in the same position on the couch when she came out of her room. She kissed Tony’s cheek and placed a lingering hand on Kris’ head, before drifting towards the kitchen.

“Go get your things together,” Tony said, his voice uncharacteristically quiet.

There’s nothing to say to that, so Kris got up and headed to his guest room. It didn’t _exactly_ look like it’s meant for guests anymore. Either Tony or Pepper had placed a duffel bag on the bed for him to fill—he’s accumulated too many things to fit in just his backpack. There were clothes strewn about that Pepper had express shipped so that Kris wouldn’t have to live in her and Tony’s old clothes while he was here. There’s a stack of DVDs with a few books and video games on the desk that Tony had bought for him (as if Kris would have stopped working on the device long enough to enjoy any of them). There’s even a note pinned to the wall from Natasha Romanoff. It had been on the desk one day when he had came up from the lab. It’s a sweet letter about his strength and determination in the battle, so unlike everything he’d ever heard about the notorious Black Widow. It made him sad he never got to spend a lot of time with her and the others in his timeline before the Avengers broke off.

He began shoving things into the bag, desperately trying to swallow down the lump in his throat. He eventually reached one of the piles of clothes and fished the MIT sweatshirt that he had stolen on his first night here. He hesitated and then tucked it into the bag as well. He reached out to the video games and hesitated. He wasn’t sure about it, but Tony _did_ buy it for him, and he _did_ stay at his tower for more than a month, unlike what his ‘two days’ promise was. He sighed, trying his best to fit the games in his bag. 

“ _Mr. Echarri?_ ” JARVIS’ voice filled the room. 

The voice was automated, but it’s somehow warm. Kris wondered for the umpteenth time how Tony managed to create such human robots and AIs. He felt like there’s something there, some commentary on who Tony was as a person, but if he thought about it too hard he might cry.

“Hi, JARVIS.”

“ _I knew who you were,_ ” JARVIS said. “ _When you called after you first arrived._ ”

Kris’ eyebrows furrowed. There’s _no_ way that the AI could have known he was from the future. “You mean, you knew I was Kristian Echarri? But it didn’t make sense because the Kristian Echarri here is younger? Something like that?”

“ _Not exactly, sir,_ ” JARVIS replied. “ _I don’t understand time travel completely yet, only as much as Mr. Stark does, although I’m sure he will be an expert on it soon enough._ ”

Kris laughed, a little sadly. “Yeah, I bet he will.”

“ _When your phone number crossed my databases, I recognized it. I am uncertain how, but there was corrupted data around it. I couldn’t access most of it, but I uncovered that you were an enhanced individual, a boy. I also knew that you were not a threat and that you were important to Sir. It’s why I kept letting your calls through._ ”

Kris gaped at nothing. “Why didn’t you tell him?”

“ _I thought it would be beneficial to stay out of it._ ”

Kris almost protested because maybe Tony wouldn’t have kicked him out or been so cold to him for most of his short time here if he had known. But, he realized that JARVIS was probably right. They’d had to start at the beginning. Even farther back than they had originally started. It hurt a lot, especially when Kris first got here, but it was also nice to have a do-over. He had learned things about Tony that he never would have otherwise if JARVIS had told him from the beginning. 

“ _During your time here, I’ve been working on accessing as much of the corrupted data as possible. I think that it is important that you know that Mr. Stark from your time cared about you very much as a son, Mr. Echarri. And my Sir will miss you immensely._ ” Kris didn’t trust himself to speak. He wanted to ask JARVIS if he could see the information that he found, but it’s probably an invasion of privacy. He just nodded. “ _But, neither one would want you to stay here. No matter what you decide to do with Kid-Arachnid, they would want you to live in your own time. They’d want you to build a better future than they could imagine._ ”

“That’s a lot of pressure,” Kris mumbled.

“ _It doesn't have to be for the whole world, Mr. Echarri. Just a happy future for yourself._ ”

Kris gulped and struggled through a few shaky breaths. He felt like a weight has been lifted, yet somehow, a different one has been added. “Did he really think he could never be happy?”

“ _I believe there were many moments when Sir was happy,_ " JARVIS answers. “ _He just never thought it could last long._ ” Kris couldn’t hold it back anymore. He closed his eyes as tears started to stream out of the corners. “ _I’m sorry. I didn’t say this to upset you. Although you caused him much stress, you were one of the things that made Sir very happy._ ”

Kris smiled a little, despite his sniffling. “Thanks, JARVIS.” He stopped. There was one last memory he wanted to revisit. “Uh, JARVIS? Could you tell Mr. Stark I’m just doing some last-minute errands to do? Kinda wanna revisit something.”

“ _With pleasure._ ”

And with that, Kris hopped onto his Kid-Arachnid suit and swung off. 

~~~

Kris swung to the top of a pine tree and observed his memory. 

A young Kris sat on a cliff that overlooked the ocean ahead of him. He picked at the yellow grass as he sat there. The class was behind him, exploring the field. 

Lysithea spotted him from afar. Gwen pushed her to go talk to him, and she kept refusing. It wasn’t until the thirtieth push that she finally gave in and talked to him. And by that time, Kris had already vanished. 

“Where’d you think he could’ve gone?” Lysithea asked Gwen. 

“I don’t know. He’s not the type to run off on a school trip.”

Gwen brushed it off, assuming he’ll come back eventually. Lysithea still couldn’t, and she just had to know. So, when no one was looking, she snuck off to search for him. Kris followed her from above.

~~~

After a few minutes of Lysithea searching for him, she finally found him, sitting down under a tree. He was thinking, deep in thought.. And by the time she had found him, it was already raining. “What are you doing, you idiot?”

Kris snapped out of his trance and turned to Lysithea. “Lysithea?! What’re you doing here?”

“I’m your classmate, and you’re my classmate. Do I need any other reason?” Lysithea spoke. 

“Y-you didn’t have to add the ‘you’re my classmate’ part, y’know. Like, I already grt the picture, you get what I mean?” Kris responded. Lysithea pouted at him. “Alright. Since it’s raining, and the chances of you bringing an umbrella are low, we’ll just sit out the rain.”

Lysithea sighed and awkwardly sat beside him, the rain pattering on the leaves and ground. “Why’d you run off on a school trip?”

Kris paused, looking at the rain fall. “Well, it’s just… you know the Battle of New York, right?” Lysithea nodded. “So, uh, I don’t know how to explain, but… okay, basically, my aunt died, and now I’m sitting here, wondering what I’m supposed to do, because our grandfather can’t take care of us, no offense to him, but like, he doesn’t have a job, so now we’re here. I sat down because I was thinking about the future.”

“Hold on,” Lysithea placed her hand on Kris’ arm. “I hear something.”

Kris looked around, so did Lysithea. A dog came out of the bushes, and it was whimpering. It was a German Shepherd. And its paw was being held upward. “Hold up.” Kris stood up, looking at the dog. “It’s injured.”

“We need a stick and a large leaf,” Lysithea said, walking over to the dog. It started growling, but she somehow managed to make it calm down. 

“Wow, you know your dogs,” Kris commented as he searched for a large enough leaf to wrap around the dog’s wrist. 

“Well, when your dad’s the commissioner, you’ll learn your dogs. Especially German Shepherds.” Lysithea made the dog sit, as she held up the paw. “Stick, please.” She held out her hand for the stick. Kris passed her the stick and leaf.

Kris watched as Lysithea applied a tourniquet to the dog. Or, their best tourniquet for the moment. It was a strangely cute scene to walk into if you were to stumble upon it without context whatsoever.

After they finished applying the tourniquet, the dog decided to stay with them. The two of them sat down, petting the dog while waiting for the rain to die down. “I saw this in a movie, so I’m gonna get some stones and stuff, and we can warm up by the fire.”

Lysithea shrugged. Kris picked up as many sticks as he could find, and started rubbing the stones together. It took a while, but they finally managed a fire.

When the fire ignited, Lysithea let out a small scream, but quickly covered her mouth. She started blushing at the fact she just screamed in front of Kris. Kris chuckled a little, and she joined in. “What do you wanna do in the future?” Kris asked.

“I don’t know. But I want to be a nurse. And help the people in the police force, like my dad.”

“‘S nice. I sorta want to be a hero. Like Spider-Man,” Kris happily said. Lysithea chuckled a little. “Hey! I didn’t laugh at yours, why’d you laugh at mine?”

“No, it’s just… I don’t know, I see you becoming more of a writer. Just a hunch, but you look like the type to write. A lot.”

“Har-har. I’ll still be a hero like Spider-Man, and the day I achieve that, I’m going to laugh so hard at your face.”

“You wish.”

Kris smiled at the sight. It was definitely one of his favourite memories, only because he managed to converse with one of his longest crushes, and current girlfriend. But he had to go, or else Tony would get worried, and also he would look like a creepy stalker observing kids. With one final glance back at his younger self and Lysithea, he sighed happily and swung off.

~~~

By the time Kris reached the tower, it was already sunset. 

Kris carried his duffle and backpack to the main room of the penthouse. He’s wearing the quantum suit. Tony’s in the same position that Kris left him, but now with Pepper tucked into his side. When Tony made eye contact with Kris, a sharp pang traveled through him and settled deep in his stomach.

“Ready?” Tony asked.

Kris shrugged. He didn’t think that ‘ready’ is the right word, but he _did_ want to see Isabelle, Nicolette, Marilynn, Abby, and Ivy. And JARVIS was right. He didn’t know if he deserved the opportunity to live the full life that Tony never thought he could, but he owed it to a lot of people to try his best.

The three of them trudged down to the lab, each step seemed to drag, impossibly heavy. Tony picked up the device they created and strapped it onto Kris’ hand.

“I put the settings to 2024,, but if you're still planning to go visit another me, you can change it. That’s your choice.”

Tony’s face was unreadable, but Pepper looked like she definitely does not approve of that option. It didn’t matter because Kris’ not going to do it.

“I think I actually got what I needed here.” Kris looked at Tony as he said it.

Tony froze. His lips twitched a bit before he controlled his expression into a picture of disinterest.

Pepper wasn’t so guarded. She grinned and then pulled Kris into a hug. “Have a safe trip, Kristian. It was nice to meet you a little early.”

So, she had come to believe him after all. Kris tried his best to not crush her as he squeezed back. “Thank you.” Pepper released him and left the room with a wave and a pointed look at Tony that made Kris nervous.

“One more thing.” Tony did a half jog to the other side of the lab and then returned with an object in his hand. It looked like a StarkPhone. He held it out to Kris, looking Tony Stark’s version of hesitant. “I made this. You can say no. It would piss me off, but you’re leaving anyway, so you wouldn't have to deal with it.”

Kris accepted the phone and twisted it around in his hand. “What is it?”

“It hasn’t been tested, so no promises that it works.”

“Everything you make works, Mr. Stark,” Kris said.

“Well, duh,” Tony laughed.

The room lapsed into a heavy silence. Kris didn’t want to ask again, though he had some suspicions about what the device might do. He fiddled with it a little as he waited for Tony to continue.

“It’s for emergencies,” Tony said, voice rushed. “It’s meant to work across timelines, so you can let me know that you got back okay.”

“Will it always call you at the moment I leave? Or if I call you in a week will it call you a week from now, too?”

“There are settings. You can choose whenever, kid. It’s probably not super healthy to call me a lot. But, if you ever wanted to, I’ll be here.” Tony must have seen the longing in Kris’ eyes because he quickly added, “If you do it too much, I’ll stop answering.”

“Then I’d just call you at an earlier time,” Kris retorted.

“I’m serious, Kristian. It’s cliche, but you’ve got to live in the moment.”

His thoughts drifted back to what JARVIS said earlier. “Yeah, I know.”

The silence took over the room again. Kris’ definitely not going to make the final call to leave. Tony didn’t seem to want to either. “So, before you go, any advice? Damn, it’s weird that a child is a wise sage who knows what could happen. Anything I should do differently when mentoring a spider-kid? Two spider-kids?”

Kris shifted a little in place, crossing his arms, shoulders inward. The Kris here had some of the best and worst moments of his life ahead of him. He didn’t know whether to be jealous or to pity him. He settled for jealousy because this timeline could end up differently. He hoped it did, but he didn’t know if he'd ever find out. Kris would just stick to calling Tony before 2023. If it _did_ happen, he couldn’t deal with that loss again.

“I don’t know. I guess just try to stay alive for this Kris and Peter and Pepper and—” He bit back Morgan’s name. He still didn’t think he should go there. “Everyone.”

It’s kind of a joke, but not exactly. Tony pressed on a fake smile and shines it at Kris. “I’ll do my best. But remember what I said about things happening for a reason?” Kris hated that logic. There were senseless acts of violence everyday, natural disasters, premature deaths. There didn’t seem to be any type of controlling force at all. He didn’t understand why Tony seemed to be clinging to that. “Besides, Kristian doesn’t need me,” Tony continues.

Kris knew that he’s not just talking about the one that Tony hadn’t met yet. He lowered his head quickly in a jerky nod. Just maybe, he could start to accept that.

Kris wracked his brain for any other piece of advice. An idea bloomed and grew before he could quash it down. It’s not guaranteed to change the future in this timeline, but he couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t try.

“Also, sit Quill out,” Kris said.

“What does _that_ mean?”

Kris didn’t think he should reveal too much. “If it all goes down the same way, you’ll figure it out. Quill means well, but just—get him away from the action, alright? Also, three-thousand. Remember that number.”

Tony pursed his lips. It’s obvious that he knew exactly what Kris was trying to do. Kris just hoped that he wouldn’t be mad about it. He had told Kris he didn’t want to know any more about the future. Thankfully, he let it go.

“Okay, bring it in.” Tony looked away and quirked his mouth to the side as he held his arms out. Kris scoffed and glanced back and forth between Tony’s outstretched hands with exaggerated suspicion. “Okay, you made me wait. I’m rescinding the offer,” Tony sniffed, snapping his arms back to his sides.

“Wait no, Mr. Stark! I was kidding.”

“Jesus, the new you will call me Tony, only so you can _stop_ placing me on a pedestal. I know you can, I’ve heard it.” Tony crossed his arms. “And also, no, you lost your chance.”

Kris launched himself at Tony anyway. He wrapped his arms tight around him and squeezed. It took a lot of control to keep his strength from becoming crushing. After a few moments, Tony pried his arms out from under Kris’ embrace and hugged back. Kris was crying, again, but he thought they’re at least half from happiness—it’s bittersweet. When Tony started to pull away, Kris reluctantly let go.

“Just so you know, that only happened because I’m never going to see you again,” Tony said. “So, if you pull a repeat of this stunt and come back here, I will end you.”

“Understood.” Kris grinned, and it didn’t feel that fake.

“On with it then, get out of here.”

Kris’ hand hesitated over the button. “Thank you, Tony,” he said, wishing that he could stop his voice from shaking. “You deserve every piece of happiness you come by.”

But as he was about to press the button, a random portal opened up above him. It wasn’t what he expected. It was like multiple orbs, ranging from light blue to black, all bunched up together to form a weird portal. He awkwardly tapped on the button of the device, hoping it wasn’t malfunctioning again, but his hand started glitching out in triangles. “Uh… Tony…?”

“Kid—?”

Kris shot webs on the ground to try and hold on, but he got sucked in. The last thing he saw was Tony’s shocked face before he flew through a black void with light-blue lines that resembled a spider-web. 

“ _WAIT!_ ”


	36. Into The Spider-Verse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris spent two days in a new school called 'Visions Academy', because his spider-senses told him to. But what he wasn't aware of, was that multiple spider-people joined the fray.

“Guh!” Kris panted heavily as he looked around. He seemed to be Manhattan, but it didn’t seem right. He surveyed the area. Many of the products he knew had different names. This definitely wasn’t the Manhattan he knew. “ _Koca-Soda?_ What is this world? What happened to Coca-Cola?”

He heard a sudden scream from behind him. He turned to see a figure. It definitely looked like a Spider-Person, based on the eyes. The figure had a black and white colour scheme, with the black divided into two stretched-out triangles in the torso area. The feet didn’t have soles whatsoever. Or, at least, he didn’t _think_ there were soles. It was replaced with a pair of cyan ballet shoes. “Who’re _you?_ ”

Judging by the voice, the Spider-Person seemed to be a teenage girl. “Funny. Was going to say the same thing to you.” The girl readied herself in a stance. “Okay, okay, I’m… Kid-Arachnid. And I at least have decency to _not_ hit a gir—”

Before he could even think, she shot a web on his leg and pulled, tripping him. “Hey, hey, hey—can we just, like, talk like normal people? Okay—okay, um, I get that what I said was _kinda_ sexist? Okay, maybe a lot sexist, but I didn’t mean it like that. Hopefully.”

The girl sighed, shutting her eyes. “Alright. Sorry for the sudden attack, was just fighting Doc Ock in my world. Still on my guard about that.”

“Doc Ock?” Kris repeated.

“You _do_ know who he is, right? With you being Kid-Arachnid and all…”

“Nope,” Kris said. “I, uh… well—I only had Shocker, Rhino, Vulture, Mysterio, Electro, and Scorpion in my world, so far. At least, those’re the villains Peter fought. So… I don’t know.”

“ _Peter?_ ” Her voice seemed pained. Kris didn’t know why, but Peter was definitely a touchy subject for her, so he decided to not push it. He knew from experience, with Tony and the anxiety attack. “Sorry, I—I gotta go…”

“Wait.” She turned around. “I didn’t get your name.”

“Gwen.”

“Cool. Cool. I’m, uh, I’m Kris.” Gwen seemed to have nodded in acknowledgement before she dove down and swung. A realization struck him. “Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait… _Gwen?_ ”

He didn’t get her full name, so he was also considering the fact that it could be the Gwen he knew, but a Spider-Person. He groaned, wondering what he was going to do. Good thing he had his bag and duffel. He rummaged through, trying to find something he could use. “I guess… maybe I could just sleep here for tonight.”

Kris swung to a higher building, so that the Spider-Man of this universe might not think he’s a hobo, sleeping on the roofs of buildings. Then again, he kind of was, but he didn’t want to deal with any Spider-People for today. All he wanted to do for now, was to just sleep. He could figure everything out later in the day. 

Kris grabbed the MIT sweatshirt from his bag and bunched it up into a makeshift pillow once again. He also grabbed his jacket and two different sets of shirts. He used the jacket to cover himself, and the two shirts to cover his legs. Right now, it just felt cold. It could be nearing December, just by the temperature itself. He pulled out his phone just to reread his past messages and reminisce about the times before the blip. He sighed, and pulled it close to his chest, his eyes slowly starting to droop.

Kris sat upright the second he remembered to do something. He lifted a shaky hand toward the bag and wrote down on his notebook.

_1) Get food and water._

It’s a simple task. The obstacle he had to get through, was the fact that the money he had was probably not the currency in this dimension. He wasn’t even sure if Tony left him just enough to survive a week. He silently cursed himself for not checking. Especially since things could get weird. And this was one of those circumstances. He sighed, jotting down more stuff on his to do list. 

_2) Try to figure out how to get back._

This had to be the most vague out of all the things he was going to write down. He didn’t even know how he got out, or even got _in._ All he knew was that he was here, now. All alone. Nowhere to go. And no matter how hard he tried, the bracelet wouldn’t work. Kris placed the notebook back in his bag and let his eyelids slowly drop.

~~~

“ _Go to Visons Academy…_ ”

Kris jolted awake. Not by the voice, but by a random glitch. He glitched in triangles, and twitched for a few seconds, but now, he was fine. It was painful, in those few seconds. “Hold up, what?”

Kris looked around. Nobody seemed to be there in his area. Nobody that could have even whispered those words. He didn’t even know the place existed. It could have been his spider-sense, but he didn’t know—he was asleep until the voice spoke. He sighed. “Alright, rando magical voice.”

~~~

The one thing he was worried about was the fact he would be practically blowing all the money he had just to follow the random voice. He didn’t even know tuition fees—and even if he did, he’s just blowing it on a school that he’d stay in for just a few days. Weeks, even. Good thing was that he got the uniform before he even reached the place. He leapt down an alleyway, books in hand, with his bag slung on one shoulder and the other shoulder used for the duffel. 

This was a unique school, he’d give it that. The only thing he had an issue with was that he had uniforms, and he slightly preferred having no uniforms in a school, but that was probably him just being biased toward Midtown. But it was cool to know that his suit fit well with the uniform. Meaning that he didn’t have to wear shoes, but just his suit. It used to be so uncomfortable wearing soles in shoes, but now, he didn’t even need to. It worked perfectly.

But as he walked into the doors, a police siren stole his attention toward the school. He turned to see a kid turn around. He seemed to be around thirteen to fourteen, based on his appearance.

“You gotta say ‘I love you’ back.”

The kid turned around. “Dad, are you serious?”

“I wanna hear it.”

“You wanna hear me say it—”

“I love you, Dad.”

“You’re dropping me off at this school—”

“I love you, Dad.”

“Look at this place—”

“Dad, I love you.”

The kid sighed deeply, staring off into the sky. “Dad… I love you.”

“That’s a copy.” The kid started walking off with his luggage knocking on the stairs. “Tie your shoes, please.”

Kris couldn’t help but chuckle a little at the conversation. It slightly reminded him of the memories he missed out on with his dad, and that stopped him from chuckling. He sighed and continued on his way to class.

~~~

Kris leaned his head against the table during Physics class. He thought he’d be interested, seeing as he excelled at Physics thanks to Peter forcing him to do it, but this… wasn’t. Instead of doing Physics equations like he expected, it was instead a video regarding the countless possibilities in universes. Sure, it could possibly help him go back to his world, but it was probably because he had a bias against it, thanks to the fact it was the ‘Fisk Family Foundation’. And he knew the Fisk from his world. Peter brought him to jail during his time in Europe.

The door opened, and it was the kid who got embarrassed by his dad yesterday. Most of the class stared at him as he awkwardly lowered his head close to his books as he tried to sneak into his seat.

“ _…countless other possibilities. There could be a universe where I am wearing red. Or wearing leather pants._ ”

The video paused. “Mr. Morales. Movin’ in the dark. You’re late again.”

The Morales kid lifted himself. He squinted his eyes thanks to the light. “Einstein said time was relative, right? Maybe I’m not late. Maybe…” He tried his best to force a smile. “…you guys are early.”

The blonde-haired girl chuckled, and Kris snorted. The class directed their attention to her, instead of him. “Sorry, it was just… so quiet.” 

“Would you like to keep standing there, or do you want to sit down?”

The video continued to play. “ _Our universe is, in fact, one of many parallel universes… happening at the exact same time._ ”

~~~

Kris didn’t think he would be able to survive any more days at the school. Sure, it’s fun to revisit school, but it just wasn’t for him. He put on the suit and sighed, looking around. He was thinking of patrolling the city, seeing what he could do, but the Spider-Man here might spot him, and that’s something he wanted to avoid. He sighed. Kris grabbed his homework and began doing it. It wasn’t like him to do so, seeing as he was always occupied with being Kid-Arachnid, but for just _once,_ since the spider-bite, he’d actually like it if he was actually responsible with his school life and _not_ be academically decommitted. 

The door to the dorm was opened, and the blonde-haired girl showed up. “Oh. Uh… hi?”

“Hi—” She stopped. The both of them furrowed their eyebrows and moved their heads slowly in weird ways as the whole world seemed to go mute around them. They could see each other in a different light. Literally and figuratively. 

The both of them gasped. “ _You’re_ like _me!_ ”

“You’re, uh, the, uh… figure on top, right?”

“Oh. Ghost-Spider?” Gwen asked. Kris nodded. (Would like to add that’s her alias if you didn’t know.)

“Wait, why Ghost-Spider? Just curious, is all.” Kris jumped to the ceiling and sat, his legs crossed. He pulled out a piece of toast and began eating.

“Okay—so, you know the Spider-Verse? This could be the same case.” Kris tilted his head, confused. “Huh, okay. What Earth were you from?”

“Oh. So, funny story, there’s this guy called Quentin Beck, and he said something about how there were many dimensions but he turned out to be a fraud, so I thought the dimensions claim were fake—”

“Just give me the number that he might have said.”

“Uh…” Kris wracked his brain, trying to remember. “A hundred ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine?”

“Huh. So, Peter didn’t tell you about it?” Kris shook his head. “Okay… so, to cut things short, there were multiple Spider-Women, and seeing as how I’m a constant variable in the ‘Is Gwen Stacy Dead?’ thing, I decided to just call myself Ghost-Spider.”

“Huh… that’s… pretty depressing.” A realization struck Kris. “Hold on, does that mean you _know_ what brought you here?”

“Nope. Just that we were blown into last week. Well, _my_ last week.” Gwen turned to lock the door so that nobody would walk into them chilling on the ceiling. She joined him on the ceiling. “So, anyway, what’s your side of the story?”

“Okay, so funny story, you know the Quentin Beck guy I mentioned, right?” Gwen nodded. “Okay—so, um, how do I explain this… he, uh, he exposed my identity to the whole world, and I don’t even know why I got to this conclusion, but I was like, ‘Maybe Tony Stark could help’, oh, forgot to mention that Tony Stark died in my universe. Anyway, I decided that the best solution was to go back in time, but I travelled way far back into 2012, and then, I was about to come back to my timeline, but I got sucked here.”

“Wow. Okay, then…” Gwen dropped down. Kris did the same. “Your spider-senses brought you here, right?” 

“Yeah.” Kris looked out the window as the sun began to set. 

“Maybe there’s a purpose to it.”

~~~

The next day was just as uneventful. But Kris took notice of the Morales kid—or, Miles, from what he heard. Miles was acting particularly strange that day. Not to mention the fact that his pants looked a lot more tighter compared to before. And the fact that he kept pulling the cuffs down as he fixed his tie. He definitely acte a lot like Kris did when he first got bitten by the spider. It definitely raised an idea in his head, but he just couldn’t jump to conclusions right now.

Kris grabbed his books out of his locker and slowly sauntered behind, making sure he didn’t look suspicious. But instead, he got lost in thought. He didn’t even realize that his legs weren’t moving. He quickened his pace, only to see a cluster of students gathered together in the main area. He craned his neck to see Miles and Gwen circling around each other, with Miles’ fingers stuck to her book and hair. Oh, boy. This’d be a bad look for Miles. But it _did_ confirm his suspicions of Miles being a spider-person.

“Ah…” Kris muttered. 

“Just—relax.”

“Okay, I have a plan—I’m going to pull _really_ hard.” Kris cringed at the thought. From experience, he knew the stickiness was extremely adhesive, and that could rip her hair out.

“That’s a terrible plan.”

“One…”

“Don’t do this.”

“Two…”

“Three!” Gwen dropped down and pushed Miles over, but that completely failed. 

Kris sighed. “Maybe… go to the infirmary, and, I don’t know, sort this whole thing out…?” he awkwardly suggested. Gwen and Miles awkwardly got up and hobbled to the infirmary, leaving a trail of laughter as Gwen was inclined to her right. 

~~~

When Kris finished up his homework that night, he was ready to go back to sleep, when all of a sudden, an earthquake of sorts occurred. He turned around to see six beams shoot out of a building that seemed to just in Brooklyn. He crouched over the building he inhabited to see a few more spider-people, all dispersed in different buildings. A girl and a robot, a pig, and a noir-like Spider-Man. From below, he saw Spider-Man, but he definitely wasn’t Peter at all. Or at least, the Peter he knew. He seemed older. More seasoned in the superhero work. Kris brushed it off—thinking that it was just all of them going to have to get back, and were in the same situations he had. He probably arrived earlier somehow, but he didn’t know. 

After a few hours of lying down and contemplating what he could do to get out of this dimension, Kris lifted his head when the words, ‘we interrupt this broadcast for a special report’ entered his ears. 

“ _We interrupt this broadcast for a special report. Sad news tonight. The hero known as Spider-Man… has died._ ”


	37. Into The Spider-Verse Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris decided the next best thing to do after hitting a burger place was to go to Alchemax. If his plan fails, he decided he could also take refuge at May's house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, sorry for the wait because I was playing Spider-Man: Miles Morales lmao

Kris walked to the edge of the building and observed the multiple screens of Time Square. “ _After injuries related to another powerful earthquake in Brooklyn. Multiple sources are confirming that Peter Parker, a twenty-six-year-old grad student and part-time photographer, operated as Spider-Man for at least a decade._ ”

Kris watched as the civilians of Manhattan started to read about the news on their phone. He looked down and planted his fist on the ground, as if to pay his respects. Deep down, he knew that one day, he would have _this_ in his dimension. But he wasn’t sure if he was even ready for that day. 

One thing that caught him off-guard, was that the Peter Parker in this world looked way different. Instead of his usual hazel hair and eyes, his hair was blonde, and had blue eyes. It was interesting, to say the least. 

But he still couldn’t help but think of _his_ Peter. 

~~~

It was decided; Kris was going to venture off and find out how he was going to get back home… right after he attended the eulogy. It just seemed wrong to _not_ go.

He grabbed his hoodie and pulled up the hood, sighing as he observed the eulogy. Many other people visited the funeral, all wearing Spider-Man merch of different variations, ranging from masks, to t-shirts, to jackets. 

Kris sighed, getting up and nodding. He walked off the roof and swung, trying to keep himself on the high ground. It’s probably what the Peter of this dimension would have wanted, with Spider-People trying to preserve his memory by being Spider-Man, but he was considering different people’s perspectives. Like how people might think he was being insensitive, and a wannabe. 

He dropped down in a nearby alleyway and bought flowers. It was the least he could do. Surprisingly, they accepted this kind of currency. 

“Huh. Maybe they _do_ accept money from different dimensions. Wouldn’t be surprised if it disappears when I leave…” Kris muttered as he sniffed the red and blue Hydrangeas. Still too strong for his liking. “But it should be fine… right?”

Kris placed the flowers by Peter’s grave and looked down, doing the fig leaf posture. “Sorry, Mr. Parker. I know I should’ve been there, but… well… I don’t know—I’m not even in the right dimension. I just wanna go home. ‘S been a long time. And, now—”

His spider-sense started tingling. Kris cautiously looked around, wondering where the threat could be. A thought surfaced in his head: It would probably be wrong to fight in a graveyard. It seemed disrespectful to him. Not to mention that he also didn’t want to step on buried ground. Not again. 

Because the last time he did so, it was at someone’s funeral, and he didn’t even know it was even the ground where people were buried—he just thought it was cool that there was elevated ground in graveyards. It wasn’t until Abby scared him into thinking that the ghosts of the people he practically stepped on would haunt him.

Because of that, Kris decided the best move was to bail. 

~~~

But another thought surfaced: Maybe he could head toward Aunt May’s, and stay there for a while. If she’s anything like the Aunt May he knew, she’d most likely understand his situation and help. After breakfast. Or—early, early breakfast. He barely ate anything at all the past two days, aside from Mars Bars, a bagel, and water.

Kris entered the nearest burger place he could find and got food. A whole heap of food. But when he ate the food, he almost wanted to cry. It felt like a thousand years since he last ate actual food, even if the last time he actually ate was just three days ago. 

But just as he was about to finish, he saw Miles and a man walk in. The man seemed… interesting. He had a Spider-Man top, but had sweat pants and a coat. He seemed to be the Spider-Man he saw earlier. Probably another Peter Parker. Miles, however, had Spider-Man merchandise, being the suit, sans mask, but his jacket covering the suit. 

He decided to slow down on the eating, trying his best to eavesdrop on the conversation. He pulled up his hood and wore his headphones, but didn’t play any music. 

“I love this burger. So delicious,” Peter commented, looking as if he was enjoying the burger like it was a treasure that he lost many years ago. Miles, however, continued to sip his soda, looking back at Peter, unamused. “In my universe, this place closed down six years ago. I don’t know why. I really don’t.”

Peter licked his fingers, but shifted his eyes toward a man who seemed to be the chef, dropping the bill. His eyes darted back to Miles, and removed the finger. “You have money, right? I’m not very liquid right now.”

Miles drummed all his fingers on the table. “Can we focus?”

“Sure.” Peter grabbed a fry and chomped it. Kris studied the new Peter figure. He didn’t seem or look like the ‘more seasoned, older hero’ that he saw. Probably because he couldn’t see him from such a far distance. It seemed like he lost his way, and wasn’t the Peter that Kris knew, in a way. At least, he _thought_ the Peters in different dimensions worked the same way.

“The other Peter? He wa—”

“You gonna eat that?” Without Miles even saying ‘yes’, Peter took the burger anyway and began eating. “I’m listening.

“The other Peter said he was going to show me the ropes. Got any Spider-Man tips you can tell me _now?_ ” 

Peter nodded, putting the last of the burger in his mouth. “Yeah, I got plenty. Disinfect the mask. You’re gonna wanna use baby powder in the suit—heavy on the joints. You don’t want any chafing, right?” 

Kris took this into consideration. He never really thought of that, and was always annoyed when he had to deal with the chafing when in his old home-made costume. But if there were to be another generation of Spider-People, he should definitely be telling them about this. 

Miles continued to look unamused. “Anything else?”

“Nope, that was everything.”

Miles sighed. “I think you’re gonna be a _bad_ teacher.”

Peter grabbed more fries and ate. “Look up where Alchemax is.”

Kris lifted his head. ‘Alchemax’? They could be the reason he got here in the first place. Like the Olivia lady mentioned in the dimension theory video. His mind started racing—exploding with ideas to sneak into the Alchemax building. 

“‘A private, technological campus in Hudson Valley, New York.’” Miles scrolled through his phone, reading out what Google gave him. Miles gasped. He seemed to have realized something. “You can teach me to swing on the way there!” Miles did the hand thing, making web-shooting noises as he showed off both hands.

Peter began laughing, and Miles slowly started to look doubtful of him.

~~~

Kris chuckled to himself as he laid down on the top of the bus. He could hear what the Peter from another dimension told Miles. “I’m not swinging to the Hudson Valley, Miles—not after a hearty burger breakfast.” Peter playfully punched Miles’ shoulder. “Keep your legs fresh. You’re gonna thank me later.”

Once the bus dropped, Kris observed the two Spider-Men head off into the forest. Kris, however, quietly dropped onto the ground. He also headed into the forest, but in another direction. If he was going to sneak in, he should probably do it undercover. 

Kris removed his casual clothes, struggling to fit one shoe into the bag. He hopped forth with one foot, removing the other shoe and placing it into the bag. “Okay… gotta be stealthy. Be cool. I’ve played Metal Gear Solid before—I should be fine… should be fine.”

~~~

Kris dropped into one of the vents. He figured that he could take out one of the scientists, but the problem is—he wasn’t trained for these kinds of situations at all. Nada. All he had was to base it all off of the stealth games he’s played. 

He even felt slightly shameful to admit that he played the Batman games, even though Batman’s a competitor when it comes to the Avengers. It’s like a rivalry of sorts, between the Justice League and Avengers. Good enough to know that they’re far enough to barely encounter each other, aside from the occasional encounters, but usually as civilians travelling to each other’s respective cities, always for tourism and nothing else.

He cleared his throat, trying his best to change his voice to sound like Batman as he analyzed the corridors. “Four scientists—all armed… with knowledge. One override key. This is going to be easy.”

Kris slowly lifted the grid of the vent and pulled himself out, only to see a comically large man, practically the size of a literal boulder. He hid himself, quietly whispering to himself, “Please don’t see me, please don’t see me, please don’t see me…”

Kris peered over the vent, and took notice that the boulder man wasn’t there anymore. Based on the fact that he had a large body, but a slightly small head, he seemed to be the big bad boss that was probably the reason the Peter of _this_ dimension died. Not to mention the fact he may or may not be Kingpin, based on his knowledge of the Spider-Man Rogues Gallery.

“Let’s see… Big head, check, very large, check, bald, check…” Kris used his fingers to count off all the characteristics of Wilson Fisk, wracking his brain. “Thick eyebrows? Probably a check. Always seen wearing a suit of sorts? Definitely. This guy’s definitely the Kingpin.”

The amount of time he wasted away trying to find out if the Kingpin _was_ the Kingpin of this universe got to him. He dropped down, only to see the corridor already in a mess. “Is the guy really _that_ huge? They _really_ have to expand the corridors for taller-or-larger-than-average people…”

He took notice of the glass shards that were practically flung everywhere. His super hearing picked up a few things: The sound of science-y guns that can change shape, probably lazers, and the words, “He took a bagel!”

Kris wondered what were the conditions for _those_ to occur at least a second apart from each other. He opened the door, only to see the backs of many white coats dropping down. The two Spider-Men he encountered earlier were probably caused. He wouldn’t be surprised if Peter did the bagel part. 

But today was a long day for him. And all he wanted to do was to just sleep. The journey to the Hudson Valley was too long a ride for him to enjoy, only because it bored him. It was fine for the first half, but the second half was just boredom to the maximum. He stopped playing music, only because it sounded a few pitches higher after a while. 

And that sleep he could probably get, was at Aunt May’s house. Assuming she still lived at the same house he was familiar with.

~~~

“Hey—uh, May? Hate to ask, but I’ve got nowhere else to go…” Kris said loudly after ringing the doorbell. He hated doing this, especially since he promised Tony he’d stay for two days, only to stay for a full month. He sighed. “I’ll be out of your hair after a few days. I promise.”

The door slowly opened, and an elderly woman showed up. She seemed to be older than the Aunt May he knew back in his dimension, judging by the hair alone. “I know this’ll sound crazy and all, but I’m, like, from an—”

“An alternate dimension?”

“Wow. That was just a guess?” Kris asked. She nodded. 

“Come in, we’ve got plenty of space.”

“Who’s… ‘we’?”

~~~

May opened the door to the backyard and headed toward the small shed. Kris wasn’t so sure about this. It seemed too small. But he also considered the fact that it could be bigger on the inside—like what Doctor Who taught him. “Wait, why not the hou—”

May took out a key and twisted. A bright white light emerged from the door, as the key that had a spider logo glowed neon red. The door opened, and she turned back to him, gesturing to him to get inside. “Whoah! This is like—like the—whoah. I can’t even. I—wow. Sorry, just… really amazed. Peter doesn’t have this in my dimension. He still hasn’t told you, or something.”

May gripped his shoulder. “Well, I’m sure the Peter in your dimension will get it eventually.” 

“Oh—and I think there are other spider-people coming here. Like, I saw a big robot and a girl, a pig, a noir guy, like a Spider-Man from the past or something like that, um… a woman who basically kicked my you-know-what, and, um, a forty-ish Peter, and a kid from my class. Just saying.”

“Well, you might need these.” May handed him a sharpie and a ‘Hello, my name is’ tag.

Kris took the tag and sharpie awkwardly. “O-okay.” He wrote his name down and tossed the sharpie back to May.

“How does… how does…?” May automatically understood what he meant and closed the door for him. 

“Oh.”

~~~

“Oh. My. Goodness.” Kris couldn’t contain his excitement anymore—he had never seen anything more cooler than this in his life before. He took notice of the various things, ranging from the technology, to the jeep, to the plane, and the motorbike. “I would pass out right now, but I want to explore this place.”

“ _Dude!_ ” Kris gasped. He inspected the variety of suits that were all in casing. It was so shiny, he could see his own reflection. Just as he wiped it, he began to hear strange noises. More specifically, a robot whirring. At least—that’s what it _sounded_ like to him. 

He turned when he felt his spider-sense buzzing his skull. “Wow.”

Four pairs of eyes loomed over him. “Hey, fella.” 

“Wha-wow. That…” Kris pointed at the silhouette of the voice that just spoke. “Wind. Where’d that come from, anyway? You blow a fan at your direction or something?”

“Wherever I go, the wind follows. And the wind… it smells like rain.” 

“Hi! _Kon’nichiwa, hajimemashite yoroshiku!_ ” A girl dropped from the robot and peace-signed him.

“Wow. Okay, um…” Kris wracked his brain, trying to search for the words he could remember from the animes he’d watched. He hoped he didn’t embarrass himself at all, just trying to sound like he’s fluent in Japanese despite the fact he never took any classes and just watched a lot of anime. “Uh… _konbanwa… watashi wa… Kristian…?_ ”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding… just doing it for funsies,” The girl said. “Good attempt, though. I’m Peni. Peni Parker.”

“Good.” He didn’t even know _why_ he had that random pause. “Good to meet you. Sorry for the random pause. Uh, I’m Kristian. Echarri.” He sighed. “And _I_ thought this day was already weird. Wait. Not that you guys’re weird. You’re cool. I meant that in a good way. Everybody’s weird but in a good way.”

“And it can get _weirder!_ ” The pig that he saw last night sauntered to the front of him, holding out his hand. “I just washed my hands—that’s why they’re wet! No other reason.”

“Cool. Cool. I’m Kid-Arachnid. My alter ego is, anyway.” Kris paused. “Oh—we could, like, introduce ourselves and stuff.”

“My name is Peter Parker. I was bitten by a radioactive spider. In my universe, it’s 1933, and I’m a private eye. I like to drink egg creams and I like to fight Nazis. A lot. Sometimes I let matches burn down to my fingertips just to feel something—anything.” 

“My name is Peni Parker! I was bitten by a radioactive spider. I’m from New York in the year 3145. I have a psychic link with a spider who lives inside my father’s robot. And we’re best friends! Forever.” 

“My name is Peter Porker! I was bitten by a radioactive pig! I’m a photographer for the Daily Beagle. When I’m not pooching around, I’m working like a dog, trying to sniff out the latest story. I frolic and I dance, and I do this with my pants—”

“Okay. No need to know about that,” Kris interjected. “Sorry. Just sensed an adult joke.”

“Well, what about you, Kiddo?” Noir asked.

Kris shook his head. “Mine’s pretty long, so I don’t know…”

“We’ll still be listening!” Peni said.

“Okay. Um… my name is Kristian Echarri. Also bitten by a radioactive spider, my parents left me at my aunt’s, she died when I was eleven when Loki—who’s a god or something like that—invaded the earth. My gramps died because I was selfish, and, like, four years later, I get appointed to help Tony-freakin’-Stark to join him in Germany, two months later, yadda yadda yadda, I’m Kid-Arachnid with a new suit and stuff.”

“Okay—new people coming in here, I think,” Porker spoke. “How ‘bout we repeat the same thing with the new people, and stay in the darkness, but with the newest addition, Kris?” The group turned to Kris.

“Alright. I’m up for dramatic entrances.”

~~~

Once every one introduced themselves, Peter approached Noir. “So how did you get here?”

“Well, kind of a long story,” Noir replied. Kris turned to him, knowing full well that it wasn’t really that long. “Maybe not that long.”

“Now, we’re just trying to find a way home.” Peni shrugged. The robot’s face changed into a more sad expression.

“The only way home is back through that collider gizmo. The only trouble is…”

Noir pointed over his shoulder with his thumb, nodding. Kris looked over to see Porker. “One of us has to stay behind and destroy it.”

“I’ll do it,” Everyone except Miles said at almost the exact same time. Almost.

Miles shook his head. “No, no, no. You guys don’t get it.” 

“Don’t get what?” A sudden buzz of pain struck everyone who came from a different dimension. Kris screamed, but his voice sounded like he talked through a fan. Everyone started glitching out, with an array of triangles and writhing. It would have interested Kris, if it wasn’t so painful.

“None of you can stay here. If you stay here, you’ll die. _I’m_ the guy who’s gonna turn it off. And I’m gonna get you all home before I do. Look, I made a promise. So, now I have to keep it.”

The Spider-People slowly looked up to see Miles with slight interest. He definitely seemed younger than an average Spider-Man, but he probably had the potential to do so. Noir broke the silence by saying, “Who are you again?”

“This is Miles. And he’s gonna save the multiverse.” 

Miles nodded his head, trying to look confident. “Yeah, man.”

Peter wrapped his hand around Miles. “This kid can turn himself invisible. Watch this. He can do it… now!”

Miles strained himself, trying to turn invisible. It definitely seemed cool on paper, but it would be useless if he can’t do it on command. “I can’t do it on command.”

“He can’t do it on command. But it _is_ cool!” the Spider-People looked back at Miles, unamused. “Show ‘em the zappy thing, Miles.”

Miles removed his hands from his pockets and curled his fingers. Nothing happened. He lowered his hands again. “Can’t do it on command.”

“He can’t. Do it. On command, but he can do _so_ much more. Like”—Peter turned to Miles—”what else do you do?”

“Just those two things.”

“Just those two things!” Peter repeated, with more enthusiasm. 

Porker shook his head and snorted. Gwen shrugged. “Look, I’ve seen him in action. He’s got… potential.” She turned to Miles. “I think he’s gonna get us home.”

Noir stepped forth and raised both fists, talking to Miles. It happened too fast for Kris to even comprehend. For all he knew, they were just testing him. But he felt like they took it too far, and was pressuring him. He could sort of understand that—he’s been under a lot of pressure for being “The next Ironman”. 

But he also knew it wasn’t about him at all. He sighed, raising his hand. “Guys—I, I think you should stop.”

The tension died down, and the Spider-Gang, (new name he thought of while Peter talked about Miles’ powers.) grouped up together. “You need to be more honest with yourself about this. He’s not ready—it’s _obvious._ ”

“Maybe it’s the pressure you guys put him through.” 

“There’s no way. He’s just a kid.”

“If he can’t do this, we have to stay and do it for him.”

Noir peered over Peter’s shoulder. “He’s looking right at us while we’re talking about him.”

The elevator activated, and the group turned to see the elevator lift. Miles wasn’t aboard. Or, at least, didn’t _seem_ to be aboard. 

“Miles?”


	38. Into The Spider-Verse Pt. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the last day on this dimension, the Spider-Gang headed to the collider.

Kris hung upside down from the ceiling, practicing how to drink upside down with a cup of coffee, his mask lifted to his nose. He choked, accidentally dropping the mug. Gwen shot a web at the mug and pulled it to her hand. “ _I swear, the Peter from my dimension has to teach me one of these tricks…_ ” he thought.

Noir continued to look at the Rubik’s Cube that must have been found in the house somewhere. “This is… purple?”

“No,” Porker responded, tracing the rim of the mug with his finger.

“Blue?”

“No.”

Peni rolled into the living room in her heelys and proudly handed the override key. Gwen was about to take it, but Peter took it first. She folded her arms. “Has anyone heard from Miles?”

Peter wore the override key on his neck. “Look, he’s just clearing his head. I know the kid. He’s got what it takes.” Gwen furrowed her eyebrows with a small tint of doubt. Noir finally decided to look away from the Rubik’s Cube, and Peni didn’t look amused. Her Sp//Dr robot’s eyes changed to be a little more shifty. “I bet you he’s gonna come back through that door, recharged, and ready to fight—”

Miles busted through the door, breathing anxiously. Something was definitely wrong. Almost everyone in the room turned to him. “My uncle.” 

“Hey, where’ve you been?”

“My uncle Aaron, he’s—he’s the Prowler! He’s—”

Peter raised a hand. “Slow down, slow down…”

“He works for Kingpin! He tried to _kill_ me!”

Noir sat upright and looked at Miles. “This is a pretty hardcore origin story.” Peni responded to it with a smack on the arm, Sp//Dr looked slightly mad, and Gwen gave him an unamused look. Kris sighed. 

Miles turned to Peter. “It’s okay. We’re gonna figure it out.” 

A thought hit Gwen. She stepped forth, gripping Peter’s shoulder, as if to momentarily grab Miles’ attention. “Were you followed?”

“No, I—I don’t think so.” Almost everyone with the spider-sense glanced at the door. In anticipation the second their skulls began to buzz. The door seemed to have shook. Kris quickly placed the mug down and lowered his mask and dropped down. Peter and Gwen quickly wore their masks, Noir lowered his hat, and Peni blew the bubble gum she had and Porker pulled down his mask, despite having not removed his mask earlier.

The doorbell rang, and out bursted an arm, knocking over May’s tea cups and kettle. Everyone glanced at the fallen shards of said objects, then turned back to the door in shock. A woman with four other arms that seemed to act like tentacles of sorts smoothly slid through the doorway. “Cute place. Real homey.”

“Oh, great, it’s Liv,” May said with large amounts of enthusiasm.

“I… guess I was followed,” Miles said.

Kris trained his eyes at the new figure. She definitely wasn’t one of the villains he’s seen in his dimension. “Wow, no need for the spoilers, lady. Never seen you in my dimension before at all!”

“Is the little spider sad?”

“Get out of here, kid.” Peter waved his arm. Miles ran to the kitchen, but was stopped by a towering man with gray skin. He had a black suit and his hands behind his back.

“You messed up big time, kid. Very sloppy.” He definitely seemed to be the Tombstone of this dimension. Except he didn’t seem to be the ex-mayor of Manhattan, or whatnot. He just knew that Tombstone was a very powerful man. In both fights, and influence.

“ _Mira todas estas arañitas._ ” A man with a big scorpion-like tail walked into the living room, pointing it all at the Spider-Gang. 

“Let me guess—you’re Scorpion? Well we’re the Spider…” Peter wracked his brain for what worked with ‘Spider’. Kris’ head propped up. 

“Gang,” he finished. Peter nodded. “Hey—if you guys leave us alone, I can give you cupcakes!”

“Would you mind taking this outside?” May gestured toward the door, knowing full well the battle would end up trashing the house.

“We don’t pick the ball room, we just dance.” Noir cracked his knuckles in anticipation.

The lady eyed the override key that hung on Peter’s neck. “Ooh, I think I’ll be taking that.”

The fight began with the lady reaching for the key, but Peter sidestepped and punched another arm away, but more came, and smacked him against the wall. He kicked away the arm that turned into a saw and it cut through the wall of the house.

The Spider-Gang glanced at Peter for a second, and then leapt forth to begin the fight. Kris figured that the four-armed lady would be annoying to fight against, seeing as how fluid she moves with her arms. He webbed the wall behind her and pulled so that he could land a hit, and have that hit be as painful as possible to quickly deal with her. “Hey! You know, those arms’re actually pretty cool! In fact, I’m actually pretty impressed! What’re they made of? Are they plastic, because they kinda look like plastic.”

“Oh, how cute. Flattery doesn’t work.” The lady smacked him into the wall and outside the house. He noticed Tombstone running in, so he webbed him back.

“Y’know—why’d they call you Tombstone? Is it, like, a nickname? Because, clearly, you don’t look like a tombstone at all.” Kris figured that if physical punches didn’t work, he could at least do verbal punches. Because he thought that possibly, he could at least annoy them enough to be distracted from the fight. He avoided fighting him, because based on what Peter told him, punching Tombstone hurt more than it hurt the man himself. 

“Oh, okay, so maybe it’s the fact that you’re _not_ a tombstone, but I guess maybe you _are_ the tomb—OH! Oh my goodness, I sorta, kinda, get it now? It’s like… _you’re_ the tombstone, and, like, you’re basically the tombstone of your enemies! Wow, that’s kinda genius!” Kris stopped talking the moment almost all of the other members of the Spider-Gang were forced to go outside the house. “Okay, man, I kinda wanna finish this convo, but I’ve got a dimension to go back to.” 

Kris kicked Tombstone impulsively and he stopped fighting for a while. “Jeezum—frick! Dang the drugs you probably took to be a literal tombstone!” 

Before he could say anything else, a gunshot rang through the air. Kris looked around anxiously. He didn’t like gunshots. Even if he’s heard it multiple times as Kid-Arachnid. He turned to see the huge boulder that is Wilson Fisk. Before he could do anything, Peter jumped in first and kicked Fisk off. 

“Get out of here!”

~~~

After what seemed to be the end of the fight, Kris dusted his hands. “Should we go check on Miles?”

Everyone turned to him and nodded. 

~~~

Kris noticed the notebook that was thrown out of Miles’ window. He picked it up and inspected it. He had an urge to peek, but he didn’t want to invade his privacy. Especially after hearing about his uncle’s passing. He pulled it away to the back of his head, and flung it back to Miles’ window.

Kris took a mighty leap and crawled up to Miles’ bedroom. The rest were already there when he climbed up. Peter already had his hand clasped on Miles’ shoulder. “…we’ve all been there. You know, for me… for me, it was my Uncle Ben.”

Noir placed another hand on Miles’ shoulder. “For me, it was my Uncle Benjamin.”

“For me, it was my father.” Peni’s eyes shined with possible tears ready to break lose as she spoke. 

“For me, it was my best friend.”

Kris pulled off his mask. “As for me, it was my aunt and gramps.”

“Miles, the hardest thing about this job is…” Everyone in the room turned to Porker, who sat in a chair. Kris noticed how both his eyes and snout were sad-looking. He sniffed. “…you can’t always save _everybody._ ”

Miles shook his head. “Look, it was my fault. You wouldn’t understand.”

“Miles, we’re probably the only ones who _do_ understand.” The scene was cut short when the doorknob rattled. 

The Spider-Gang thought quick, and backed themselves to the corners of the room on the ceiling. They watched as Miles’ roommate walked into the room. Good enough that he was looking at his phone. The problem was that the cluster they all bunched up in was very cramped.

“That way, that way,” Peter muttered. The others crawled to the direction Peter said, as the roommate turned on the monitor, kicked his chair to the direction of his bottle, took a sip of water, and kicked his chair back to where the monitor was. “Other way, other way, other way!” 

Kris cringed the second he saw the chair swivel. Everyone gritted their teeth in anticipation when the chair stopped, facing their direction. Everyone held their breath when the kid lowered his comic book, only to see the very cramped cluster that the Spider-Gang had to be to stay hidden. “Hey, there.”

Porker turned to the rest. “Do animals talk in this dimension, ‘cause I don’t wanna freak him out.”

The kid instead fainted, his headphones falling out. They could hear the music still playing. “Jeezum, how loud does your roommate play his music, Miles?” Kris asked. Miles shrugged. 

~~~

Kris, Peni, Porker, and Noir hid by the window. They were soon joined by Gwen. They were waiting for Peter. Peter had this plan where if Miles was able to get past him, they could celebrate with him and let him join them at the collider. “Miles, I came to say goodbye.”

“We can say goodbye at the collider.” Miles lifted a book that hid the override key underneath, then turned to where his mask was. 

Peter stood up straight. “You’re not getting it. You’re staying here.”

“I need to be there. So you can all go home.”

“They _are_ going home, Miles. I’m the only one that’s staying.”

Miles paused, then turned to Peter, who stood at the window. “You’re taking my place? If you stay here, you’ll die.”

“I’m doing what needs to be done. I just wanted you to hear it from me.” 

Miles furrowed his brows, squinting his eyes. “What about MJ?”

“Not everything works out, kid.” Peter held out his hand. “I need the goober.” Miles, instead of giving it, held it away. “Please don’t make me take it from you.”

“That’s not fair! You _gotta_ tell them I can do this!” Miles stepped back as Peter took one step. 

“It wasn’t their decision.” Peter placed a hand on his chest, as if to say it was his.

Peter looked down, knowing that Miles really wanted this. But he couldn’t let him, because he didn’t seem ready. Not yet. Miles shook his head, then looked at Peter. “I gotta make Kingpin pay! You _have_ to let me make him pay!”

“Miles, you’re gonna get yourself killed.”

“But I’m ready. I promise—!” Peter swept at Miles’ feet, jumped to the ceiling, and grabbed his shirt.

“Then venom-strike me right now. Or turn invisible—on command—so you can get past me.” Miles’ lip twitched. He clenched his fists and strained himself, but he couldn’t do anything. Outside, everyone else stayed. Kris bit his tongue, shaking his head. 

“Look, I know how much you want this, kid.” Peter let Miles drop to his feet before dropping himself. “But you don’t have it, yet.” Peter webbed the chair and swiveled it, along with Miles, sticking him to the chair. He placed a hand on the chair and turned it, taking the key.

“When will I know I’m ready—?” Peter shot a web at his mouth as he grabbed his mask.

“You won’t. It’s a leap of faith.” Peter gripped the window, still looking at the kid. “That’s all it is, Miles. A leap of faith.” Peter put on the mask, but didn’t pull it down to cover his mask. He glanced at Miles one last time and paused, sighing. He pulled down the mask, and the rest followed him, swinging to Fisk’s Penthouse.

~~~

The Spider-Gang dropped out of the bus and began swinging. Peni had to wait for Sp//Dr to drop from the top of the bus to follow. They all ignored the stares they received. Especially since it’s their last day. 

The group swung to the top of a crane, glitching a little, but not as much as earlier. Peni had Sp//Dr scan the tower as they observed. She turned on a comically large spotlight and traced it down near the bottom of Fisk Tower. “Kingpin has a private elevator entrance from his penthouse to the collider below.”

“Didn’t count on having an audience,” Noir commented.

The others exchanged glances before flipping backward, webbing the crane, and launching themselves off it. They all dropped onto the glass roof of the penthouse and groaned. “You gotta be kidding me!” they all said at the same time.

“What a pig,” Gwen muttered grudgingly.

Porker turned to Gwen, offended. “I’m right here.”

“Hold on.” Noir grabbed the attention of everyone. “Get a load of how the waiters are dressed.” He pointed at the waiters. They all had Spider-Man masks and a bow tie. 

“It’s in poor taste, but… it can’t be _that_ easy.”

~~~

“It’s _that_ easy.” 

Surprisingly, the plan went well. Kris was trying to restrain himself as he couldn’t stop snickering at the fact that all they had to do was put on bow ties. Kris and Noir had silver platters on their hands with the other hands behind the back. They pushed Sp//Dr, who hid beneath the white cloth, and hid Porker in a silver platter. It worked well, because people could just assume it was a spider-themed pig if it ever opened up. 

Peter stopped the moment he saw MJ. “MJ?”

Gwen turned around and saw Peter. She groaned, and waved her hand at Peter. “Pay attention! It’s not your MJ, Peter, okay?”

Peter kept staring. “I’m sorry, I’ll be right back.” Peter steered the robot toward MJ.

Gwen held the other end of the cloth. “ _Peter!_ Come here. Trust me. I’ve been there. You gotta move on, buddy.”

“It’ll take one second. Let me just—” Peter waved his hands and began sprinting, but stopped the moment he noticed MJ in front of him. “Oh!”

“Hello.”

“Oh, wow.”

“Um… I just wondered if we could have some more bread at table twelve.”

Peter nodded. “Yeah.” Kris and Gwen wiped their faces in disappointment, and Noir kept watching with his silver platter still on hand. “I’m just, uh… I’m _really_ sorry.”

MJ raised her eyebrows. “Oh. Don’t be sorry—it’s just bread.”

Peter shook his head. “I wasn’t there for you when you needed me. I didn’t even _try._ ”

MJ nodded in confusion, trying her best to play along but also feeling bad for the waiter. “That’s fine. You know, I should really get going.”

“I know I could do _better,_ if I _just_ had another chance to give you…” Gwen had her hand stuck to her face. Kris slowly handed his platter to Noir. “The _bread_ that you _deserve…_ ”

“Are you _okay?_ ”

Kris headed toward Peter’s side and gripped his arm, trying his best to smile despite MJ not being able to see his face. “Ma’am, we’ll take care of that bread right now.”

“Well, it’s been nice talking to you.”

“For you, they should fill this place up with fresh bread.”

“Are you, uh, alright, man?” Kris asked as he placed his hand on Peter’s back, pushing him back toward the bot. He patted his back as they walked back. 

“Oh, yeah. Totally.”

“Good, because we are _not_ getting any bread.” 

~~~

After Fisk headed through the doors, the two agents that guarded the doors closed it and looked around. The gang webbed them up and stuck them to the ceiling. 

“Sleep.” Kris referenced the alien lady he met on Titan. They dropped down and kicked down the doors that were apparently doors to the elevator and jumped down.

~~~

The Spider-Gang ran through the collider and swung to the top of the structure. About the second they reached the edge, they saw it blast each other, with large orbs that formed into a beam that changed from a light-ish orange to purple.

Peter glitched out and he gripped the structure. Gwen turned to him. “Peter, you don’t have to stay behind. I can do it.”

“It’s okay.” Peter glitched again, but a little less than just a few seconds ago. “I’ve made up my mind.” The gang swung to the top and stuck to the ceiling. “I’ll put the goober in and take over the beam. After you’re gone, I’ll blow it up.” Peter began crawling around, smacking each tile for a hollow-sounding thud. “Good luck, guys.”

Everyone felt their skull buzzing. “They know we’re here.”

Kris looked at the agents that readied their guns. Kris swung forth and kicked a few agents off, but webbed them to a nearby wall. A laser shot him and he glitched out. This time, it was a lot worse. His whole body burnt as he fell. He quickly webbed himself back, and hid behind a structure to avoid the onslaught of lasers he was receiving. 

“ _Who did that?!_ ”

Kris peered from the structure he hid behind, and saw Miles pop out from his invisibility and punch the lady with the arms. Kris pumped his fist. “Dangit, man, now _I_ want invisibility and bioelectricity!”

Kris webbed himself to go help, but the glitching happened and it grew worse— he dropped to the floor and saw a bunch of buildings and structures floating out of the beam. “What the—oh my goodness—oh my goodness, that’s _cool!_ ”

Kris made use of the new environment around him. Mostly for swinging around, because he couldn’t find anything he could fight against. But what he _did_ saw was Scorpion breaking through Sp//Dr. He swung in and kicked Scorpion’s head, but quickly noticed an anvil that was falling. He kicked hard enough to avoid it as Porker sauntered in, dusting his hands.

Scorpion laughed as he dropped the anvil. “What are you, some kind of silly cartoon?”

Porker stopped just as he was about to hand Kris a mallet. “You got a _problem_ with cartoons?” Porker kicked away Scorpion’s attacks and webbed his face, punching him. He slammed Scorpion’s tail to the ground and climbed up it, spinning the hammer around and slamming his head. “ _BLAMO!_ ” 

Kris grabbed his tail and spun before throwing it to Peni, who smacked him back with a piece of Sp//Dr’s arm. “Oh my gosh it’s a homerun!”

“Did _that_ feel like a cartoon?” Porker climbed onto Kris’ shoulder and blew raspberries at the downed scorpion. 

Kris headed toward Peni and placed a hand on her shoulder. “You okay?” Clearly, she wasn’t. But he tried to comfort her. 

“Come on.” Noir grabbed her hand, and she hoisted herself onto his back. The four of them took one last glance at the robot and swung to where the override key was supposed to go.

“Well, nice to know we’re not alone. Right?” Everyone nodded. 

“I got the portal open. You first, Peni.”

Peni raised her arm. “Thank you, Miles.” The spider that inhabited the robot crawled to her elbow. “From both of us.”

She dropped into the beam, and it momentarily turned red and blue.

“I, uh, love you all,” Noir awkwardly said. He pulled out the cube and twisted it in his hand. “I’m taking this cube thing with me. I don’t understand it, but I will.” He dropped into the beam, and it turned black and white.

“I want you to have this. It will fit in your pocket.” Porker gave Miles a hammer, who awkwardly glanced at it, then back at Porker. “That’s all, folks.” A tear dropped from his eye, and drifted to his forehead.

“Is he allowed to say that? Legally?”

“Hey—Miles.” Miles turned to Kris. Kris gave him finger guns and a wink. “Don’t let your fingers stick to girls’ hair again! Uh, no offense. To both of you.”

And with that, Kris dropped into the beam.


	39. Back Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris was finally home again—and now he remembered to call Tony.

Kris emerged, gasping, in front of his apartment building. He took in the familiar construction on the building and subsequently doubled over. For a few precarious minutes, he was afraid that he would throw up, but the feeling passed, leaving him empty. 

Kris straightened out and surveyed the street. Passersby were giving him a wide berth and gawking at him. It made sense. He stood there in a Kid-Arachnid suit with two large bags, after all. He went behind a sign and had to manually change, so at least he’s in civilian clothes. Now all he had to worry about was his recently turned recognizable face.

He lingered behind the sign and grappled in his bag for the new phone Tony had given him. When he powered it on, block letters filled the screen.

_Enter date._

Kris typed in the date that he left Tony on and when prompted again, the time a few minutes after he pressed the button.

He sucked on his lip as he waited for the call to connect.

“ _You made it?_ ”

Kris’ cheeks stretched wide. “Yeah, that’s one way to put it”

“ _Great,_ ” Tony said. “ _Remember, talk to Pepper about your problem. Don’t call me for at least a month. I can see what date you’re calling me from, so don’t even try to pull one over on me._ ”

“I would _never,_ ” Kris said in an offended tone. He placed his hand on his chest.

“ _I *swear*, Echarri, if you use this as a crutch, I will come and take it away from you. I have time travel cracked now._ ”

“I know, I know. Don’t worry, I won’t.” Kris hoped that it was true. He didn’t want to hang up.

“ _Also,_ ” Tony hesitated.

Kris fumbled to check the settings of the phone. He was suddenly acutely aware that if he broke this one, he’d never be able to talk to Tony again.

“ _If Pepper or Rhodey or anyone wants to talk to me—I don’t know, maybe that's a bad idea—_ ”

“I’ll let them know,” Kris interrupted. It wouldn’t be fair to keep this to himself. There were people who knew Tony for far longer than Kris had.

“ _Thanks, kid. Now skedaddle, I’ll talk to you when I talk to you._ ”

~~~

“Hey, so—um… sorry I left. That was, um… really, really bad of me to do so.” 

Everyone in the room who were staring at the window then turned to Kris. “Wait, what?”

“Didn’t you leave just a second ago?”

“What happened?”

“I am so confused.”

Kris chuckled a little. “It’s a long, long story. Too long for me to recount.”

~~~

The Quints went with him to see Pepper. Nicolette flipped off the reporters that now often sat in front of their apartment building as she ushered Kris past them into Happy’s waiting car. Happy frowned at them through the rearview mirror.

“They’re brutal,” Happy said. “You should have waited for me to get out, I could have made a path.”

“I had it covered,” Nicolette replied.

Her words were a little sharp. Not to mention how pissed his cousins had been with the world since Mysterio’s video came out. The Quints, including Kris, leaned on each other’s shoulders for the entirety of the car ride.

Pepper was as lovely as ever. She beckoned Kris and the Quints into the house like old friends, even though they’ve met very few times before.

“She makes it easier,” Kris heard her tell the Quints, nodding toward where Morgan was, building with LEGOs. “It’s good to have to focus on taking care of someone else.”

“I get that.” He could feel Marilynn watching him as she said it.

Kris closed his eyes. The images of his grandfather, the little version of himself and his cousins at the dinner table was permanently etched into his mind.

“Kris?”

The voice startled him. Pepper was kneeling right in front of him. He wondered how long he’d sat there replaying the scene in his head over and over. Outside on the porch, the Quints held Morgan and pointed at something on the lake.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

“It’s okay.” Pepper’s smile was kind and patient. “You wanted to talk about Beck, right?”  
He flinched at the name, and pushed down the panic that this is yet another elaborate hoax.

“Um—yes. He was behind the attacks. I made a mistake and gave him EDITH.” He fiddled with the glasses that hung from the collar of his shirt and perched his own glasses. “I got them back and stopped him, but now it’s a whole mess.”

“It’s not your fault, Kristian,” Pepper says. “I saw his video. There’s obvious editing in it. We’ll fix this.”

Kris fought the urge to explain how much of his fault it was. He focused on what Tony said because the man was right. Kris’ hand wasn’t on the gun or in the gauntlet, and the glasses weren’t perched on his nose when the drones attacked London. He’d been tricked and he would learn from it, but he couldn’t blame himself anymore.

“They showed my face. Everyone _knows_ who I am.”

Pepper studied him. “I can make that go away, disprove that it’s you.”

It was tempting, so _very_ tempting, to take her up on that offer. But, he thought that some of the damage was permanent. His classmates who were in Europe would always be suspicious, as will the Daily Bugle. The ridiculous website had been running smear campaigns against him since they dropped the video.

“No,” he said. “If I hide again, someone else can just use it against me later.”

Pepper nodded. It seemed like the approval of his decision. He’s grateful for it, but he didn’t think that there truly _was_ a correct answer. Both choices had their downfalls.

“How can I make sure that my cousins and my friends are safe? I mean—not to mention the fact we’re also moving to Harlem in just a few weeks time, or so.”

Pepper brought up a screen with security measures that she had already started to implement before Kris had even come to her. She’s upped security at Midtown High by donating the newest Stark surveillance systems.

Kris relaxed into the couch for the first time in what seemed like months. Tony _was_ right. Pepper could handle this.

~~~

Kris told Colonel Rhodes about the phone first. FRIDAY gave him his number. The call dropped immediately after Kris finished explaining.

He’s proven correct when the War Machine suit landed next to him twenty minutes later. “So you have the tracker in my suit, too,” Kris said as he stood up.

“Happy thought I should have it. Tony would have wanted it too, I think.” Rhodey flipped up the face-plate and fixed Kris with a calculating squint. “You _better_ not be messing with me.”

“I’m not,” he said, holding out the phone.

Rhodey reached for it slowly like he’s afraid it would shock him. Kris told him the date to put in—a few days after Kris left. He held the phone to his ear with a haunted expression.

Kris heard when Tony picked up. “ _Echarri, I told you to wait for at least a month. Your world better literally be on fire for you to be calling me._ ”

Rhodey’s mouth fell open, and he drifted towards the other side of the roof in silence. Kris watched nervously. He knew that it’s bound to be a lot to process.

“Fuck _you,_ man. We made a pact that specifically involved not dying,” Rhodey said after a few seconds. Kris mouthed a ‘language’.

“ _Rhodey?_ ”

“God, it’s good to hear your voice.”

Kris smiled and crawled back to his window.

~~~

That was the only time that Rhodey used the phone.

“I said everything that I needed to,” he told Kris.

Kris’ glad that Rhodey found that kind of peace, but he didn’t really understand it. He could think of endless amounts of things that he wanted to say to Tony and he’s sure that there will just be more and more as time goes on.

Pepper declined speaking to him. “It’s too much. Maybe one day, but not right now.”  
It was the least composed that Kris had ever seen her look. Her hands shook almost violently as she pushed the phone back towards him, so he’d quickly pocketed it and changed the subject.

Peter called Tony occasionally. When Kris first told him, he did it three weeks in a row, but Tony must have set limits as he had for Kris because he started only asking Kris for the phone on the last day of every month.

Kris waited more than a month to call again, mostly to prove that he can. He decided to do it on Christmas. He and the Quints had opened presents in the morning. They were staying inside Stark’s cabin, waiting to have dinner. Nicolette took a nap by the tree, Ivy was reading, Iand Abby was playing with Morgan, and Marilynn was looking out to the lake.

He went to the roof so that he didn’t disturb the Quints, and also because they didn’t approve of the phone situation. Nicolette and Ivy thought it would ‘hinder his development and implant an unhealthy understanding of grief and coping mechanisms’. He was pretty sure she got those words from a professional. But, they hadn’t taken it away from him, yet, and he’d like to keep it that way.

Kris didn’t think it to be unhealthy if he used it right. He’d suggested writing letters to their parents and grandparents in a journal, just as he did. Kris didn’t see how this was any different, except that Tony answered back.

He set the date for Christmas 2012.

“ _Did you really go, six months? Or were you calling me in a different year?_ ” Tony sounded out of breath.

Kris laughed. “Merry Christmas to you too, Mr. Stark.”

“ _Merry Christmas, kid,_ ” he replied. “ _Now, answer the question._ ”

Kris did, and he was proud that it’s the truth. Tony didn’t immediately answer. Kris heard repulsors in the background.

“ _Sorry, kid, I’m a little busy right now,_ ” Tony said. Kris could barely make out his words over all of the commotion that must be around him. “ _I assume that I survive this, based on your version of the future. So, try a different Christmas, maybe?_ ”

Right, he had forgotten that the Extremis incident had happened over the holidays. He switched the date to Christmas 2013 and then hesitated. He must be a bit of a masochist because he changed it to 2018.

His hands trembled slightly as he confirmed the date and time and continued to do so as he held the phone to his ear.

“ _Merry Christmas, Kid._ ” Tony’s voice sent a chill through him. He couldn’t read the tone.

“Merry Christmas, Mr. Stark.”

“ _This is one of your earliest calls, huh? I wondered when it would happen._ ”

Kris was vibrating. He just wanted to get it over with, ask if the snap happened, but he didn’t want to be the one to bring it up. It’s easier to talk about less important things.

“Do I call a lot?” he asked.

“ _Not as much as I thought you would._ ”

For some reason, it made Kris feel guilty. “Oh, sorry.”

“ _Don’t be. It’s a good thing,_ ” he replied. “ _But you know, you kept some things from me about the future for a long time, I didn’t think you—_ ”

Tony was cut off, and another voice, farther away, left the speaker.

“ _Mr—Tony! Pepper told me to tell you that you’re not allowed in your lab on Christmas! She said I have her permission to pick you up and bring you out of here if you don’t listen, and um… Oh, but don’t get mad at me though, I’m just the messenger—and the brawn, I guess._ ”

It took Kris a long time to recognize his own voice and when he did, it was like a hand had wrapped itself around his heart. 

Tony laughed. “ _If you ever try to lift me, I will end you. Tell Pepper I just have to finish one phone call. If she doesn't like that, tell her it's an old friend of ours._ ”

There was a pause before Tony spoke again. “ _Sorry about that._ ”

“Was that—?”

“ _Yeah._ ”

Kris’ throat tightened and there was a pressure behind his eyes that he viciously tried to ignore. It stung.

“ _You okay?_ ” Tony asks.

He didn’t know yet. He didn’t want to jump to any conclusions.

“You stopped him?”

“ _Sidelined Quill, just like you said. Sent him on a wild goose chase to the other side of Titan._ ” Kris slumped down against the roof. It had been that easy, just as Kris had hoped—but also feared. He’d been so close to getting the gauntlet off. If he could have just distracted Quill somehow in his own timeline—but it didn’t matter now. It’s his past. He shoved the heels of his hands against his eyes.

“ _I’m going to need some confirmation on the ‘okay’ thing._ ”

“I’m good,” Kris whispered. “I’m—happy that it worked.”

And he was, he really really is. But he’s also so many other things.

“ _It’s more complicated than that,_ ” Tony said.

Kris nodded even though Tony couldn’t see it. It’s complicated, and it’s messy, and it’s confusing. He wanted to scream because it’s unfair and he wanted to sing because this Tony wouldn’t die on that same battlefield.

“Does _your_ Kris know about me?”

“ _No._ ” The ‘and he never will’ went unsaid. “ _But, you were ‘my Kris’ first, you know._ ”

Kris supposed that was _technically_ true. A small smile tugged at his lips. He tucked the fact away with all of the other things he didn’t exactly know how to feel about.

“ _You never told me that Pepper and I have a kid,_ ” Tony said. “ _Pepper’s pregnant. Or is that different here, too?_ ”

Kris gulped. “That’s the same.”

“ _Damn._ ” There was a long silence and Kris felt the threat of tears again. “ _Didn’t think you had it in you to keep a secret, Kid! Your lying was *awful*._ ”

It surprised a laugh out of Kris. “Well, you didn’t believe me when I was telling the truth about time travel, so my lying couldn’t have been _that_ bad.”

“ _You might have a point there. *Might*,_ ” Tony's voice became more solemn. “ _Now, don’t give away anything about the baby, but if they ever want to use your phone—when they’re older—would you let them borrow it?_ ”

“Of course.”

Kris heard the slightest sniffling from the other end of the call. It made him feel like he’s being ripped in two. Tony shouldn’t have to worry about this alternate set of people that he cared about. It took a few more seconds, but when Tony did speak, there was no trace that he’d been crying. Kris almost convinced himself that the sound had just been some kind of inter-timeline static.

They talked about a lot of things. Kris recounted what had happened in the six months since he’d gone to the past—how Pepper had taken control of the Mysterio situation and how the public was mostly accepting her story over Beck’s story.

Tony’s definitely heard it before, from older versions of Kris who called younger versions of Tony, but he lets him continue without interruption. Tony told Kris about his semi-retirement.

He spent most days with Pepper, preparing for the baby, but went into Stark R&D a few times a week. Pepper planned on going back to her position as CEO when she was done with maternity leave.

Tony would cut his hours, even more, to stay with the baby. He only donned a suit when a certain arachnid-themed hero got in a tricky situation, which happened less and less.

“ _I don't think I’ve had to rescue his scrawny ass in—I don’t know, at least 4 months? He’s very capable. I shouldn’t be surprised, your debut in 2012 was impressive._ ”

Kris practically glowed under the praise. A part of him would always be the same kid, trying to impress the great Tony Stark. Then he also remembered that Tony told him to stop placing him on a pedestal. “Does everyone think it was the same person, from back in 2012?”

“ _The public either thinks it’s the same or a copy-cat. Kristian thinks I designed him a similar suit to pay homage to the old guy. Thinks you died or something. He showed me some conspiracy video on—Buzzfeed? I think—to try to get me to tell him what really happened._ ”

Kris gaped at nothing but the thought. “Yeah, sorry about talking to him when he was younger and all, but I’m on _Buzzfeed Unsolved?_ No way! That’s awesome, man.”

“ _Of course you know what that is._ ”

They discussed the different theories proposed for a few minutes. Some people thought that Kid-Arachnid was just a suit made by Tony, with only a friendly AI inside. Others thought that it’s not a suit at all and truly a red and blue alien, who was off-world between 2012 and 2016.

Kris checked the time.

"I’m going to have to go soon," Kris said.

“ _That’s great, Kid._ ” It sounded like he's smiling. “ _Wish everyone a Merry Christmas for me. If you think they’d want that._ ”

Kris didn’t know if everyone would, especially Pepper, but he told Tony that he’d do it anyway. He’d tell Rhodey, Peter, and Happy, at least.

“Mr. Stark,” he started.

Tony didn’t say anything when he paused, which Kris was grateful for. He didn’t know if he’d continue if the man commented.

“Are you happy?”

It was Kris’ turn to wait for an answer. He prepared himself for Tony to answer sarcastically or to evade the question. It’s definitely what 2012 Tony would have done. He probably would have gotten a similar response from his timeline’s Tony before the snap.

“ _I am. Sometimes it scares me how much._ ” He said it fast like he was confessing some big secret.

Kris grinned up at the New York skyline. He thought about what JARVIS told him before he left and felt like, finally, he did something right, all by himself. He changed the course of this Tony’s life for the better.

“ _How about you, Kid?_ ”

The grin started to fall a little, but he resolutely forced it back into place. “I’m happier than I was,” he mused. “And I think it’ll keep getting better. Especially since I’m now settling in my new place in Harlem.”

“ _I know it will._ ”

He didn’t know if Tony was talking from personal experience or if he literally knew what would happen from talking to older versions of Kris. Either way, he believed it. He hung dangerously on the precipice of tears, once again, but they’re not the bad kind.

“ _I love you, Kid._ ”

It pushed him over the edge. He knew that a lot of what Tony felt for him could be credited to a different Kris. But if even a _fraction_ of it was actually for him, he’ll take it. It’s more than he ever thought he’d get.

“I love you, too.”


	40. Spider-Hack / Pulled Funds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter tasks Kris with one thing to do: sneak into Oscorp Tower and find out more about this thing called "Devil's Breath".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty short chapter, because I wanna get straight to the point in the next chapter, and get to the real juicy stuff.

“Hey—Kris, we’ve got a job to do—just a pretty simple one,” Peter said as the two were swinging around. 

“Yeah? Shoot.” Kris picked that up when he spent time with Tony back in 2012.

“So… MJ’s got this file…” Kris nodded. “And the file has this thing called “Devil’s Breath”. And there—okay, long story short, Mr. Negative—a guy you prob’ly saw on the news during your break—made this guy, Dr. Delaney—we found him through Charles Standish’s records—say a name before killing him. MJ and I’ve been theorizing on what next for the past month, until I noticed something. Everything related to Devil’s Breath all leads to Norman.”

“Oh, really?” Kris asked. “Well, let’s pay him a visit.”

~~~

Kris and Peter stood near the foot of Oscorp Tower. “Okay, so here’s the thing.” The duo crouched down. “I’m gonna hack the security modules—you’ll wait by the penthouse and sneak in. Make sure you find something about Devil’s Breath. Very important.”

“Alright.” Kris shrugged. He was kind of thrilled—this was his first stealth mission. And this was on Oscorp Tower, of all places! Kris dropped to the door of the tower and waited. He took notice of the sudden lasers being pointed at the building. “Jeezum. Security’s tight.”

A few seconds after the laser, drones were dispatched. Not his favourite thing. Especially after Mysterio. Loud propellers were heard after the next few minutes. Kris peered over the edge of the balcony and saw a helicopter. “Wow.”

“ _Okay, Kris—you’re up._ ”

Kris zipped to the vent and began crawling through the vents. He heard Osborn talk about the file, or whatnot. He wasn’t paying attention, because he was more focused on trying to find more information about Devil’s Breath. “For a dirty, possibly corrupt Mayor, he’s got remarkably clean air vents—ah! Like my own private ventrance!”

Kris dropped down. Luckily enough, Norman left almost the second he dropped down. “Okay, um… let’s see here…” Kris jogged lightly to the monitor, so as to not make any noise.

“GR-27… hm…” Kris clicked through the slides. “Oh. Doctor Morgan Michaels was the chief scientist—but the location of the lab’s redacted. I wonder why…” Kris clicked again, and the slide showed an image of what seemed to be DNA. “AI-controlled CRISPR? If I remember anything from Bio class, it could cure any genetic disease if it could work. Cystic fibrosis, Huntington’s… this is crazy—but cool, to say the least.”

Kris clicked another slide. The good appeared to be that it was highly efficient and had consistent results. The bad, was that GR-27 was _very_ infectious. A singular, exposed rat, wound up later with forty other deceased bodies in the span of seven days. Not to mention how it targets the immune system. He clicked another slide and cringed. It was an image of dead rats everywhere. 

“An infected subject could trigger a global pandemic? Jeezum—GR-27 _is_ Devil’s Breath. It was designed to cure diseases, but in its current form? It’s, like, a bioweapon.” Kris clicked and what seemed to be the last slide showed up. Apparently, they were supposed to maintain exposure. And to mitigate risk of exposure, they made it so that Doctor Michaels kept the only sample in his person at all times. “Huh. No wonder Mr. Negative wants him. Find Michaels—find Devil’s Breath.”

Kris placed two fingers near his ear. “Hey, Pete? I’ve, uh, okay. So, the Devil’s Breath thing, it’s… GR-27, and it’s, um, designed to cure diseases, but right now, it’s a bio—”

“Sorry, man—call you in a bit later.”

Judging by the voice, Peter was in an awkward situation. Probably something to do with MJ. Kris shrugged it off and looked up from the monitor. Quiet. It was almost eerie, how quiet it was. It sent shivers down Kris’ spine, and he shook it off. He zipped up to the vent and crawled out. 

~~~

“Message from Peter,” Kris muttered. He pulled out his phone and played it as he had a bagel and coffee in hand. Peter didn’t really have anything for him to do, and there were no crimes going on, so he decided to take a break. If you’d even call it one, with a cluster of people constantly asking for a photo. “Okay, uh, can we, like, do it outside? Because… you know, cafes, and people want quiet.”

Kris headed outside, and began posing for the selfies that people wanted.

~~~

“Hoo, jeezum, it’s a lot.” Kris placed his hands on his back and pushed, arching his back. “Okay. Let’s see, now, Pete needed something…” He pulled out his phone and checked Peter’s messages, sitting down.

“ _Hey, man! Doc needs us at the lab._ ”

“Huh. Been a while. Kinda missed the Doc, not gonna lie.” Kris stood up and looked around for his phone pocket that was designed to fit in with the web-cartridges, and it would fit perfectly. Not once did he have to worry about it falling off just because of that. While looking for the pocket, his head peered over the building roof he stood on and spotted a group of kids pushing a smaller kid around. “Wha—why are kids up so late? It’s, like, 5AM!”

He shot a web to distract the bullies for a moment, then dropped down in front of the smaller kid. He cleared his throat, trying his best to change his voice. “And, uh, I better not see you bullying people! Again.”

Kris turned to the kid, then at his damaged project. Ouch. He also had that experience with Brad and his old Middle School project, but luckily his friends managed to find a way to fix it. And he wasn’t going to let this kid have his project that he worked on for probably hours remain damaged. He picked up the parts. “You _made_ this?”

“Yeah,” the kid said.

Kris looked at the parts, then back at the kid. “This is a _wind turbine!_ You made this? No way.” Luckily, it was only the rotor that was detached from the main project. He aimed carefully at the rotor, so as to not damage it further, and stuck the propeller blades and rotor back to the project. “This is _amazing!_ ” He then spun it around to test it. “Good as new, right?”

“I’ll walk you to your school, or school bus, ‘kay?” Kris handed the project back to the kid and began walking with him. “What’s your name?”

“Gordon,” he responded.

“Oh. I’m Kid-Arachnid. Be sure to not swear as much when you’re older.”

~~~

Kris waved as Gordon waved back from the bus, as it pulled away. “‘S pretty nice. Okay, now, let’s see what Doc has to offer…”

~~~

“Hey—Doc, I’m sorry that I took the break, I’m—” Kris stopped. He looked at Otto and Peter, sitting in the darkness. They were with one of the clients Kris seemed to have read about. Lost his arm in a war of sorts, and just wanted to hug his daughter again. 

“ _Wow,_ the lab has changed a lot since my break, including my trip to Europe…” Kris thought as he spun around, walking towards Otto. The ‘and time travel adventure’ didn’t follow.

“And it’s an understandable break, too.” Otto added, stretching his arm and looking at the arm. It dittoed his movement, just a few seconds slower. “What, with that Mysterio guy saying _you_ were Kid-Arachnid? Of course it’ll be understandable—it’s fake news! And what, that Jonah Jameson going on about how you must have cloned yourself when the _real_ Kid-Arachnid showed up on the same street as you?”

Kris nervously chuckled. He remembered that stunt Peter and him did. What they did to clear his name was to let Kris walk around normally, while Peter swung around in Kris’ costume, disproving the claim, and making the public doubt Mysterio. It was satisfying. Especially seeing JJJ’s face when he had to print a retraction, (“I haven’t printed a retraction in twenty years!”) because he took both photo AND video evidence. 

Everyone in the room then turned their attention back to the veteran, who had the prosthetic arm. Kris pulled up a chair and sat beside them, watching. “How does it work?” The veteran asked.

“Just like a natural arm. You think of what you want it to do, and…” The arm slowly moved. It reached for the cup and lifted it, making a whirring sound as it moved. 

“Yes!” Kris, Peter, and Otto started smiling brightly. They were laughing, proud of what they achieved. The door opens, and two people step in. Peter walked up to the woman. “Hey! Wh-what do you think you’re doing?” 

The woman passed him a clipboard. “This site’s been declared a safety hazard.”

Otto stopped the man who took the duffel bag from his shelf. “Stop that right now! This is highly sensitive equipment.” He places the duffel bag down and turned to his phone. “That’s it, I’m calling the Mayor’s office directly.”

“Peter Parker! How the hell are you?” 

“Mr. Osborn—?”

Norman stepped forth and patted Peter’s back, all while Kris awkwardly stared. “Oh, please. How long have we known each other? It’s ‘Mr. Mayor’.” Norman laughed. “It’s Norman. Norman!”

“Norman, what do you think you’re doing?” Otto spoke, his face showing nothing but irritation.

“The grant agreement you signed has strict safety provisions.” Norman took a clipboard from the woman, and he passed it to Otto. “This isn’t your first violation.”

Otto scoffed. “Those were excused.”

“By me. We should have confiscated this equipment long ago.”

“But… but I’ve had a breakthrough!” Otto stepped aside and showed the war veteran, who awkwardly smiled at Norman.

Norman walked up to the war veteran. “Thank you for your service to our country.” He shook his hand and ushered him to the door. “These folks will escort you to Oscorp Robotics, where you’ll receive the latest in prosthetics, no charge.”

“This isn’t about safety infractions, is it?”

Norman turned to Otto, with a slightly offended look. “I’m trying to help you, Otto. You’re free to continue your work… in a secure environment.”

“At Oscorp.”

Norman grinned and nodded at him. “You always were the smartest guy in the room.”

“You haven’t changed a _bit._ ”

Norman’s face changed. “Neither have you.”

Norman wrapped his arm around Peter and whispered to him about something. Otto steadied himself to a table. Kris supported him. “Easy, easy…” Kris raised an arm. “They didn’t take everything, maybe we can start over.”

Otto looked at him. “Kristian, there’s no ‘we’. Without the grant from the city, I can no longer pay the both of you.” Otto looked down. “I need some time to think.”

“If I were you… I’d look for a new job.”


	41. Grand Central Showdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris spent more time being himself—helping Otto, helping May... and then, Mr. Negative decided to strike.

Kris sighed. He looked at the Kid-Arachnid posters that were still in the boxes of his room. They still hadn’t really settled in, seeing as how they recently moved to Harlem just a week ago or so. He honestly just wanted to do something around here, but it was honestly scary how new this neighborhood seemed to him. He sat upright, then looked around his room. They just freshly painted the walls, so it still smelled slightly disgusting. He laid back on his bed and looked up to the ceiling of his room, completely oblivious to the fact he just woke up at 3PM. But it _was_ a Saturday, so he didn’t really mind. 

He would graduate next year’s June. He forgot that he was forced to repeat the year, so he was still a seventeen-close-to-eighteen-year-old that would graduate at around nineteen. The mere thought of having to work nine to five just wasn’t appealing to him. But he also couldn’t say much, because he also had the job with Otto Octavius, along with Peter. The Stark Internship was something he gave up after Tony’s death because it felt too much for him. 

“Work life’s gonna suck…” He sat on the edge of his bed and sighed, glancing at his closet. “Okay, time to go check on Doc and see what he’s doing.” Kris grabbed a fresh set of clothes and grabbed his backpack. He slung it over his shoulder and slid open the window, closing it behind. He breathed in the fresh afternoon, or close-to-evening air, and sighed. He crawled up the fire escape and wore his suit, and then secured it to a pole. 

He was still surprised it had a higher chance of _not_ being stolen compared to when he used to secure his bags to a dumpster. Kris zipped to the ledge of the building and launched himself off, making his way to Greenwich.

~~~

Kris fixed his hair as he struggled to fit on the lab coat. He took a deep breath and opened the door. “Hey, Doc—” The lab looked full compared to the last time he saw it. It had multiple boxes stacked on each other every few desks. He squinted his eyes over at Otto’s workspace to see the new arm. Unlike last time, with wires everywhere and whatnot, it was instead, a sleek, black design, quite similar to an Iron Man arm of sorts, but with a few design tweaks. It was cool.

“Hello, Kristian. I’ll be just a minute.” Otto marched over to his workspace and worked on something. From afar, Kris could somewhat make out what looked like an N64 controller, but with a few wires jutting out.

“Doc—how’d you _get_ all this stuff?” Kris looked at the boxes stacked on his desk, twisting his wrist and inspecting the new items. They really had to get better at organizing their workspaces. He looked up to the whiteboard, with all the prototype logos and the motto. ‘Octavius Industries: Ground breaking technology, creating the world you deserve’. It felt just like yesterday that he was fourteen, and bumping into Otto at the Science Museum when he was looking for his project with his friends.

“Called in _every_ last favour. Took out a few loans. It’s like we’re starting over again, but this time, it’s going to be different!” 

“Oh! That’s cool, so it’s like when you and Peter started out, with the new addition of me!” Kris happily pointed out. He remembered when Peter reintroduced him to Otto when Kris asked him about Otto. Surprisingly, Otto accepted him, despite his very messy appearance. Probably because of the project that his friends worked on, and that probably won him a ticket in Otto’s company. 

“Alright. I think that… should do it.” Otto referred to both what Kris had said, and what he worked on, which was a controller. He walked over to where Kris stood, which was by the arm. Peter, however, was in his own office. He seemed to be working on the second arm. Best not to disturb him. 

Otto whipped out the controller, and the arm moved along, with only a few second delay. Kris chuckled a little, child-like delight on his face. The arm moved to the mug, but it refused to pick up the said object for some reason. Otto strained his face, as if he was also trying to reach for the mug himself. “Everything okay?”

The arm’s fingers jittered as it picked up the mug, but dropped the mug. “DAMMIT!” Otto’s chest heaved. “This is all your fault, Norman, you son of a—!” He threw the controller away.

Kris had almost instinctively said ‘language’, but he stopped himself. Because he knew that it’d probably anger him further. “Well, I know who you’re not voting for in the next election.” Otto turned to him, almost staring daggers. That instinctive habit of quipping he gained from Peter had rubbed off on him. “Sorry.” He quickly added. “I, uh, have a habit of making bad jokes in tense situations.”

Otto took a deep breath and chuckled. “It was a good joke, Echarri.” He straightened his back. “It was a bit of an overreaction on my part.”

“No. Don’t worry, just… take a break, and I’ll clean this up and get ready for another test.” Kris bent over and paused. A question surfaced in his head.“Hope you don’t mind me asking, but… seems you and Norman have a bit of a history.”

“We were lab partners in college. Became friends and decided to start a business. We both had visions of changing the world—just in different ways.” Otto turned to him, sitting down.

Kris stopped. He stood up, grabbing a small broom and dustpan.“Wait—you were at Oscorp when it _started?_ ”

“I’m half the reason it’s called ‘Oscorp’. In grad school, everyone called us “the O’s”,” Otto sighed. “Add “corp” to that, and… well… it’s a catchy name.”

“Well—why’d you leave?” Kris asked, starting to pick up the broken shards of the mug.

“Norman became more and more obsessed with genetics. He started a project I considered unethical, and there’s this—” Otto hesitated—there’s definitely something he wasn’t telling Kris. Kris decided not to probe. He sighed deeply again. “Anyway, lawyers got involved, I chose to leave in exchange for a settlement. But that money didn’t last very long. I’ve relied on grants ever since.” Otto placed a hand on his forehead. “If this project doesn’t work…”

“Don’t worry. It’ll work. Let me just fix this up.” Kris placed the controller down and ran a diagnostic on the control unit of the controller.

“I’ll brew some fresh coffee.”

~~~

“I’m the Science man!” Kris happily whispered as he walked to Octavius. He handed it to Otto, but he raised a hand. 

“Why don’t you do the honors this time?” Otto grabbed two mugs and placed one in front of the arm. 

Peter walked out of his workspace with a limp arm in his hands. “Okay, Doc, here’s the second arm—we just gotta tweak it so it can move along with the other arms, and oh, you’re already testing the other arm.” 

“Parker! Perfect timing. Ah—could you place it there?” Peter placed it by the desks next to Otto’s workspace and stepped toward what they were doing. Otto handed him the mug, and grabbed another one.

Kris glanced at Peter awkwardly, not knowing where to even start. Otto placed a hand on his shoulder, as if to say, “You can do it” without any words. Kris breathed in, then breathed out. He slowly shifted the joystick, commanding the arm to move to the replaced mug. It did, but very slowly. It inched closer to the mug, then picked it up. It slowly lifted it, until it was above their heads. Peter smiled at the result. “I think we did it!”

Otto smiled at the mug like a proud dad. “Next step, neural interface.”

Peter turned to Otto, with Kris’ gaze still fixated on the mug. “That’s a lot of work to do by yourself… Sure you can handle it?” 

“Apparently not, judging by today’s debacle.”

“Because Kris ‘nd I still haven’t found a new job,” Peter said. 

“My funds are still…”

“I know. I’ll figure it out. _We’ll_ figure it out.” Kris tore his gaze away from the mug to look at Otto, smiling. “What’s a few bucks when you’re trying to change the world, right?”

Otto raised his mug. Peter did the same. “To changing the world.” Kris stepped backward a little, then shifted the right joystick toward them, making a soft clink.

~~~

Kris slid open the door to his bedroom and placed his bag in the corner. He removed his shoes and hung his suit at the end of the bed frame, switched to his pajamas, and slept with his face pressed against the pillows.

~~~

Otto was concentrated on his new invention, the next week. It was a pair of black arms, and they were a lot more smoother than he remembered. He probably worked overnight, again, to work on the neural interface and connecting the second arm to it. Otto should definitely get some much needed and deserved sleep after this. The interface wasn’t perfected yet, but it seemed to be in a prototype-esque stage. “Oh. Echarri!” Otto exclaimed, putting down the headpiece. “Wonderful! Perfect timing, perfect timing…”

“Check the neurosensors, will you? We need a faster response time,” Otto spoke. “Try to get it under three milliseconds.”

“Right, right…” Kris checked the tablet that was connected to the arms. It had a 16-millisecond response time. He glanced at the arms. Same design as the singular arm he saw last time he was there, except there was a second one.

Kris lightly jogged over to the headpiece he made that laid on a desk. It was one of those straps with many lenses that could zoom in a lot more easily compared to a telescope or binoculars. He jogged back to the arms and handed Peter the headpiece. He started tweaking the circuits to dial up the response time to eleven.

~~~

“Aha…” Peter muttered. He turned to Otto. “Hey, Doc? Is two point eight milliseconds good enough?” 

Otto walked over to the tablet, holding it happily. “Good work, Peter.”

Peter handed Otto the headpiece. Otto placed it onto his head, activating the interface. A thought surfaced in Kris’ head. He didn’t want a repeat of the incident with the grant committee, so he stepped to the emergency stop button and readied his hand.

In fact, _nothing_ went wrong. One of the arms rose, holding a tennis ball in its hands. Kris smiled at the invention. It was genius! It looked like this was ripped straight out of a movie! The arm rose and threw the ball. Otto made a gesture to catch the ball, but the arm caught the ball for him by swiftly extending out the arm itself, and its fingers. It slowly retracted itself.

The other arm rose, and it caught the ball easily. Kris pumped his fist in excitement. It was history in the making! In fact, this could probably be the first that he’ll appear as himself, other than Kid-Arachnid.

The arms slowly juggled. The speed slowly but gradually accelerated, and one of the arms kept picking up more and more tennis balls, until all of the tennis balls were being juggled in the air. Something about it was just—satisfying. 

Otto sighed with content, watching as the balls dropped onto the bucket. “I’d call that a mild success.”

Kris couldn’t contain the smile that blossomed on his face. “ _Mild?_ That’s _unbelievable!_ ” His voice cracked a bit. It was like he experienced a candy store for the first time. 

Otto attempted to reach for the wire that connected the interface, but couldn’t. His hand shook a bit as he tried. Peter glanced at Otto. “D’you need some help?”

“Yes.” 

Peter reached for the wire and unplugged it, removing the headpiece. Otto looked disappointed as he removed it. Like a child that was told to go to sleep while he was playing. “Doctor, what’s going on?”

“It’s become that obvious?” Otto took the interface from Peter’s hands and placed it next to the arms. “My doctors call it “a degenerative neurological disorder,” probably caused by overexposure to toxic chemicals in my… reckless youth.”

“I’m sorry, is—is, is there anything we could do?” Kris asked.

“You two already are. The worst part is it only affects the muscles the mind continues to work, but it can no longer do. You two are the only ones who know. And I’d like to keep it that way,” Otto said.

“O-of course.”

“Uhh… If you’d like to seek a position with more of a future…”

“Hey—Kris and I came here to work for you, because of what you got up here.” Peter pointed to his temple, smiling at Otto. “And that’s not going anywhere. So neither are we.”

The three of them shared a hug.

“Oh, Kristian—before I forget. I read the most fascinating article—outlines possible next steps for the neural interface.”

“I’ll take a look—thanks, Doc,” Kris said, examining the lab. He turned to a suit of sorts that hung next to the boxes. It looked… unique. He felt the material, and it was smooth. He turned to Otto. “What is this, Doctor? Never seen this type of material.”

“Would you believe it’s for welding? Provides remarkable magnetic insulation, and limits cross-contamination between the neural interface and arms,” Otto explained. 

Kris jogged over to the Otto’s study room, inspecting the article Otto previously spoke of. Direct interface with the basal ganglia. Exciting… but risky. “I dunno, Doc. You’d need a gallium Silk-array to make it work. Even then, odds of injury are pretty high.”

“Gallium! _Genius!_ Never mind the risks—we’ll work them out in time!” Otto exclaimed.

Kris turned to the x-ray images of Otto’s brain. Doc’s really sick—at this rate he’ll lose control of his motor functions within a year. And if they weren’t careful, an intracranial implant could make things even _worse._ Even alter his personality. They need to proceed carefully.

He then turned to the whiteboard that had drawings of the arms. But instead of the design he had seen just in the other room, it’s more… octopus-like. He shrugged it off and walked out of the room. “Hey, Doc? Sorry, but we’ve gotta go,” Peter said. He already sensed that Kris was thinking of heading out, so he held the door out for him.

“No worries, Parker. I was thinking of taking a break myself. As soon as I check my telemetry data.”

~~~

Kris jumped onto the roof of the FEAST shelter. He almost forgot about this place, with all that’s been going on in his life. Peter decided to go on patrol, and Kris decided to check on the shelter. He searched through his belongings that were stashed together with Peter’s, and changed, keeping close to the walls before going to the door and opening it, heading down to the kitchen.

“Hey, May! Just thought you could use some help today,” Kris happily said with a spring in his step to fit his foot into the shoe, because it refused to let his foot in.

“Oh, Kristian! Yes, we’d like some help—could you move those boxes for me?” May asked. 

Kris moved over to the boxes next to him and started moving them. “Where’d you want these boxes?”

“Just over there is fine.” May pointed to the storage room, which was just across the kitchen.

“You sure you don’t need help with the kitchen?” Kris joked as he moved more of the boxes.

“I learnt the hard way that you _and_ Peter are a better help _out_ of the kitchen than _in_ the kitchen,” May chuckled.

~~~

After Kris had finished, he looked up to the TV that was on the wall. It had a helicopter that recorded Grand Central Station. 

“ _GRAND CENTRAL IS UNDER ATTACK!_ ” The reporter shouted to overpower the loudness of the helicopter blades. “ _NOT MUCH IS KNOWN OF WHAT IS GOING INSIDE, BUT IF YOU CAN SEE FROM THE WINDOWS,_ ”—the camera zoomed into one of the windows—“ _AND THERE ARE PEOPLE BEING GATHERED IN A GROUP!_ ”

“That’s terrible…” May commented. She turned to where Kris previously was, and he was gone. 

“Kristian?”

~~~

By the time Kris had snuck through the ventilation system, Peter was running towards the train station. He kicked open the vent and with one swing, he landed with a roll next to Peter.

“Kris?! What’re you doing here?”

“Sorry I’m late! I was helping May with the boxes! So what’s going on?”

“Context later! Fisticuffs now!” Peter accelerated and Kris saw why—Mr. Negative was on the train. Kris and Peter swung into the train, breaking the glass. 

“Listen up, Mr. Negative—we’re optimists, so you better split!” Kris shouted.

“Oh, and sorry we’re late—kind of our thing,” Peter added. Mr. Negative ignored him and jumped to attempt to punch the both of them, but they dodged by jumping onto the poles and kicking him into the other compartment of the train. “So—would you like to tell us why you’re doing this or not?”

“Paying off an old debt,” Mr. Negative simply said. The two thugs that walked up behind him stopped, as Mr. Negative grabbed both of their torsos, and seemed to be enhancing his powers by taking away theirs. The two thugs dropped, and Mr. Negative’s eyes started to glow.

Mr. Negative, with his newly-enhanced powers, threw beams at them. Kris narrowly got grazed by the energy-like blast, but that was enough for him to see the world as if it was some sort of camera filter. The negative one. And that gave Mr. Negative an opportunity, because he used it to slam Kris against the window and deliver more blows.

Kris dodged another punch and elbowed him, but Mr. Negative grabbed his shoulders and the both of them were thrown into the other train and through the window. 

“Hey, everybody! Sorry—is this the train to Brooklyn? My friend’s a little drunk, so forgive him, will you?!” Kris blocked a few more of his punches, until Peter came and pulled his head up, letting Kris web the ceiling and pull himself upward, which he did so to kick Mr. Negative.

Mr. Negative gathered enough energy that was wide enough to not be dodged, unless if you were to go out of the train. The problem that’s stopping them from going out of the train is that: On the left, is a wall. On the other side, there were pillars that would basically knock them out—especially at the speed they’re going for the train.

Kris and Peter opted to web-zip towards Mr. Negative and kicked him to the panel, which electrocuted him. The duo stepped towards the front of the train. “No breaks? No problem. Kris, cover the left, I’ll take the right.”

The two of them webbed the walls as fast as they could and tied it together so they would have a chance to stop it. Instead, the webs broke off. Kris glanced at Peter, as if to ask him what to do now. “That _totally_ worked last time!” 

“Yuri—they're still doing construction in forty-second and first?” Peter asked. He jumped to the ceiling, and so did Kris, and together, they pulled the tracks upward, and the train broke through the ground. It grinded to a halt and fell to its side.

Peter and Kris leapt onto the train, where Mr. Negative was attempting to crawl out. 

“Next stop… prison.”


	42. Breakthrough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After taking down Li, Kris and Peter decided to check on Otto.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another short chapter to sort of transition to the next arc!

“ _This is Mary Jane watson, please leave a detailed message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can._ ” 

Peter sighed. “Uh, hey, it’s me. Let me know when you wanna talk.”

“ _Not rdy to talk yet_ ”

“Texting isn’t _talking?_ ” He commented. Peter stood on the side of a wall, walking normally. “ _OK. It’s over, btw_ ”

“ _Over? OK fine_ ”

Peter shook his head quickly. “N-n-no-no-no, not _that_ kind of over!” He rapidly stuttered. “ _I meant Li. Kris and I beat him._ ”

“ _Oh…_ ”

“ _Do you want it to be ‘over’?_ ” Peter placed the phone on his chest. “Please say no, please say no…”

“ _no_ ” 

Peter, happy, started to swing. “Huh! Okay. Okay…” He swung to the top of a radio tower and sat down. 

“ _But maybe it should be._ ”

“Aand not okay,” Peter sighed.

“ _Need some things to figure out_ ”

Peter groaned. “What is there to figure out?” He began typing. “ _Sure. Me too._ ”

“ _think we had different ideas about this ‘partner’ thing._ ”

Kris pinched the bridge of his nose. “Oh. You _think?_ ”

“ _I need to do some work. I’ll call you tomorrow. Maybe._ ”

Peter sighed, putting his phone away and pinching the bridge of his nose. Kris called. Peter answered. “ _Hey, Pete_.” 

“Sup. So, what’s it about today?”

“ _Doc wants to see the both of us at the lab. See you there._ ”

“Alright, then. See you there.” Kris hung up. Peter leapt off of the tower he sat on and swung over to Otto’s lab.

~~~

“Hello?”

“Echarri! Parker!” Otto happily exclaimed. He limped over to the three mugs that sat on the desk beside him. “Just in time to celebrate!”

“Celebrate…?” Peter questioned, taking the mug. 

“Where’re the arms?” Kris asked, turning to the location where the arms previously were at. Instead, it was just a bunch of boxes. Otto grinned at him, and without a word, the arms extended out of his back. “Doc…! This is just—insane! Like, Tony Stark first inventing the Iron Man suit insane!” Kris gasped. He kept looking at the arms in complete awe. 

Peter, however, seemed slightly unsettled by the arms. He smiled awkwardly, trying to seem happy. “How did you—?”

“Intra-cranial neural network. Neuro-transmission speeds under one nanosecond. Faster than signals travel inside the brain… never mind to an external prosthesis!” As he explained, the arms moved to the kettle and poured it. The movements were silky smooth. “We did it, you two. _No one_ can take this away from us…”

“Wow…” Kris could barely say words at all.

“And _your_ work on the neural web, Echarri, was the key.” Otto used the arms to move himself and support him as he walked.

“But… we haven’t even tested it yet. There’s so much we don’t know.” Peter considered the idea that it could alter his personality, especially after examining the x-ray images last time. The realization struck Kris, and worry slowly started to rise out of that delight. 

“It works beautifully! Come on, take a look!” Otto proudly gestured to the tablet that was a statistical analysis on what the interface was like. Peter and Kris placed down their mugs and looked into the tablet, running a diagnostic on the neural interface.

~~~

It was worse than Peter had initially thought—the chances of seizures, short term memory loss, and long term memory loss was bad. At least it was in the range of 62-38%. The problem is the limbic degradation and frontal lobe edema. Not to mention the high risks of mood and personality shifts. They had to discontinue the usage immediately. 

“This is bad…” Kris muttered. 

“Doctor?” Peter called. The distant sound of metal rattling answered, and Otto came into view, confidently marching forth. “Uh, Doctor, I found a potential problem—”

“ _Everything_ has problems if you look hard enough…” Otto stopped walking. “…but fortune favours the _bold…_ ” Two extra arms extended out of Otto’s back. As it planted itselves onto the ground, he elevated himself. 

“It’s time to show the _world_ what we’ve done!”

“Otto. The neural web isn’t isolating your motor neurons.” Peter gestured toward the tablet’s analysis. “It could be affecting other parts of your brain—your inhibitions, your mood… I just think we need to do some more testing—”

Otto sent an arm towards their feet, his face scowling. Peter and Kris stumbled back. “We’ve done _enough_ testing!” He shouted. “For the first time in my life, I don’t feel like a _failure._ ” Otto’s face changes to a delighted expression. “I feel like _me!_ ”

“Doc, you’re not a failure,” Kris said.

“But this could permanently damage your mind— _please,_ ” Peter added.

Otto seemed to calm down, looking disappointed. “Right… right.” He lowered himself and removed the interface from his neck dejectedly. The arms went limp.

“Don’t worry. We’re close.” Peter placed a hand on Otto’s shoulder.

Otto nodded. “I’ll keep at it. Work out some bugs.” He waved his hand. “Go, go.”

“You _sure_ you’re okay?” Kris asked, doubt rising in his throat.

“Yes.” Kris and Peter turned to the door and started walking. “Thank you, Kristian and Peter. For… for everything.”

Kris and Peter nodded, continued their route toward the door. But something about Otto asking them to leave worried Kris. But he just couldn’t put a finger on it.

“ _We now take you live to Grand Central Terminal where Mayor Osborn is about to address the media…_ ” A reporter said on the TV. Otto turned to the TV and placed the interface back, slowly approaching the object in question. The arms started to move around again. 

“ _Martin Li is now behind bars. When I make a promise to this city, I keep it. The people of New York will soon make a daemon that could change the course of this city forever. So when you’re casting your vote, remember what I’ve done: Made this city great again. We are all safer now than we have ever been—_ ”

Otto’s face twisted into an enraged scowl. “ _ **LIAR!**_ ” An arm smashed the TV. The screen tilted to the right slightly.

“ _You have no idea what you’re in for…_ ”


	43. Out Of The Frying Pan...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Kris and Peter decided to check on FEAST, a report about the device used to spread Devil's Breath was stolen.

May grabbed a bottle of mustard from the fridge and closed it. Peter approached her. “You okay?”

“I’m getting by.” May walked over to the counter beside and placed the mustard bottle there.

“I don’t know how I feel about you running this place all by yourself,” Peter said as he headed toward the opposite side of the counter.

May turned to the people at the cafeteria. “These people need help. If I lose a few hours of sleep, so be it.”

Peter sighed. “So, have you heard from Mr. Li since—?”

“No.” May looked sad as she said it. “But the Martin I know wouldn’t have done that. Whatever’s become of him—that’s not the one I want to remember.” May grabbed the cutting board and began cutting carrots. “So. How are things with MJ?”

Peter’s eyes drifted away, as if trying his best to avoid his question. “Oh, it’s, uh… well, y’know, she’s, uh… it’s, uh… it’s complicated,” he stuttered. He headed toward the sink and began washing his hands.

“Honesty. That’s what got me and Ben through the rough patches.” May smiled reminiscently. Kris had just walked into the kitchen, ready for more tasks to do around here.

“You guys had _rough patches?_ ” Peter asked, almost disbelieving about what she had just said.

“Oh, sure. Especially when we were your age.” May placed the cutting board aside to look at Peter. “So. Are you honest with her? Does she know the _real_ you?” 

Peter opened his mouth to speak. Both Kris and him thought it’d be best to take this into consideration. He closed his mouth the second someone else spoke.

“Hey, turn it up. I wanna hear this!”

“ _...a spokesperson for the police has confirmed that this was the truck carrying the device used in the Grand Central Terminal attack…_ ”

Kris and Peter exchanged glances with each other, worried looks on their faces. If the worse had come, they needed to go _now._

~~~

“ _Captain Watanabe. Leave a message._ ”

“Yuri—where are you? Call me when you get this,” Peter said. “I just hope the Devil's Breath is still there… and still secure. If the Demons got to that truck… This just went from bad to catastrophic,”

“Well, we gotta get there fast in time, right? The Devil's Breath thing could turn into a pandemic or something like that?” Kris asked. 

“Yeah. Just hope that we get to the Devil's Breath before they get to it.”

~~~

Kris and Peter managed to find the crime scene and the truck was ripped apart. Two sable agents laid on the floor, unconscious. What’s worse, is that the Devil’s Breath was gone.

A helicopter swooped by and stopped, signaling the both of them to get on. Or stick on. “ _The Devil's Breath is gone, but we got even bigger problems. Hop on—_ ”

Suddenly, a huge explosion occurred in Ryker’s. 

“Woah, what the muffin,” Kris blurted out. The two looked up at Rykers. Smoke covered the air, explosions still occurring, and fire could be seen from afar. Kris and Peter leapt onto the helicopter. “What happened?”

“ _It was a coordinated attack. Must've been planned from the outside. Every cell block is breached. We're minutes away from every prisoner in Rykers walking right up Fifth Avenue._ ”

"What about The Raft?” Peter asked.

“ _Should be okay. It’s a supermax facility—better security, and a separate power grid._ ”

“Good. What about the Devil’s Breath stuff?” Kris added.

“ _Sable’s handling it._ ”

Kris and Peter exchanged glances with each other, internally agreeing Sable shouldn’t really handle these kinds of stuff. But then again, Kris also really didn’t know what she could do, so he just left it be. As they flew up to the prison, the trio saw a truck traveling at full speed.

“Uh oh,” Peter whispered. He jumped down and threw the driver out of the truck before webbing him somewhere safe. “Shoulda worn your seatbelt!”

Kris soon jumped down, and they fought off a few prisoners. Kris’ Spider-Sense started going off. The familiar buzzing feeling in his skull, AND the hair on their arms and legs standing up. 

“ _Dammit! They got into the armory!_ ”

“Is that bad? That sounds bad,” Kris asked. He and Peter ran up to the inside of Ryker’s, where all the crimes, fights, and property damage galore happened. And it wasn’t a pretty sight, either. Many criminals wielded rocket launchers, there were many gunshots, and just overall general chaos. Kris took out the prisoner with the rocket launcher by kicking him off and webbing him somewhere safe. 

“It means some of the inmates are armed with rocket launchers.”

“Yeah, that’s bad. We're on it,” Peter added. The two of them kicked a prisoner, quite similar to a dynamic entry kick before engaging in combat.

“ _All inmates, return to your cells. Repeat, return to your cells. This is your last warning._ ”

“Spider-Man AND Kid-Arachnid?!”

“It’s them! Take them or leave them!”

“I think you guys need a little more “plan” to your escape plan.” Peter flipped through the sky, focusing on aerial combat. Kris swung his fists at prisoners and spun webs at inmates, pulling them closer to each other and knocking them out. 

“Who thought it was a good idea to bring rockets into a prison...?” Kris ran circles around them—he was confusing them with his movements thanks to the amount of video games he played, AND the combos with the web gadgets he thought of while fighting thugs one time.

Kris could imagine random words appearing out of thin air every time he landed a hit on someone, like POW, or BIFF, or KAPOW. Peter, on the other hand, was taking down the ranged inmates, with Kris taking down the melee-focused ones. “Pete—Spider-Man, I don’t know about this, I’m getting a bad feeling!”

“Don’t say that—we can take ‘em down, as long as we work together!” Peter sunk his foot into the inmate’s torso and rendered them unconscious. 

“ _They’re stealing a chopper!_ ”

“Kris—Kid-Arachnid, you take the chopper, I’ll handle the remaining inmates.”

“On it.” Kris webbed the chopper and pulled hard in an attempt to stop it. It was working, until they decided to shoot a missile at him, which he dodges. He pulled himself forward and kicked out a big guy, webbed him somewhere safe, and crawled onto the helicopter window, before saying, “License and registration, please!”

“ _I’ve always wanted to say it!_ ” Kris thought excitedly right after he said the aforementioned sentence. The helicopter crashed onto the ground and he webbed it up to prevent it from scraping the ground further.

“ _Okay, it looks like things are somewhat under control…_ ” Yuri commented.

Suddenly, a giant burst of lightning appeared in The Raft. It disappeared almost instantly. And with Peter’s experience with electricity in the past, it disappeared too quickly for it to be ‘normal’, and he didn’t like it. Not one bit.

“I thought you said The Raft was secure?!” Kris asked.

“ _It was. Let’s go. Maybe it's not as bad as it looks._ ”

“Love the optimism. But in _our_ experience… when it _looks_ bad… it’s usually _worse,_ ” Peter said as they approached The Raft. Massive amounts of electricity were conducted as they advanced, until Electro came into view. This situation wasn’t great, exactly as Peter had just previously said. Kris and Peter’s visors expanded in shock. “Look out!”

Electro smote Yuri's chopper, and the helicopter began to spiral out of control. It knocked Yuri into the window, and it cracked. “ _Yuri!_ ”

“I’m slipping!”

“Gotcha.”

“Ignore the chopper—jump!” 

~~~

“You okay?”

“Yeah.”

Electro destroyed the door in front of them with his electricity. Kris, Peter, and Yuri turned to look at the cell block. “Welcome to the party! Just in time for the fireworks…” Electro shot a beam of electricity in all of the directions of the cell block, releasing the inmates.

“ _Electro?_ Why is _he_ letting everyone out?” Kris wondered. Peter massaged his shoulder a bit, and Kris hopped on the spot. 

“I’ll head for the main control center and see how bad the situation is,” Yuri explained. She left.

Kris and Peter rushed into the cell block and started beating up some good ol’ baddies.

“Everyone just quietly go back into your cell and lock the door behind you! Okay? Please?!” Peter said. To both diffuse the tension Kris and him were feeling, and also in hope that the inmates would _actually_ listen and lighten their load. But the chances of that happening are next to zero. And as he expected, none of them did.

_Power failure in cell block C._

Peter flipped through the air again, focusing on aerial combat because that’s his specialty, and Kris worked best with grounded combat, being able to sweep the inmates’ feet and following it up with a trip mine placed at the ground, webbing them to the ground.

_Catastrophic event detected._

When they were done, Peter ran ahead and tried to force open the doors. But while he was doing that, Kris heard a very earthquake-y noise, and he didn’t like the sound of that. Just as he had expected, Rhino was tearing apart the cell block. He threw one at Kris and Peter. “Hi Rhino!”

“Hope you like surprise, spiders,” He responded in his usual Russian accent before he lifted a giant piece of rubble and flung it at the two again. 

“Surprise? What is he talking about?” Kris asked Peter.

“I don’t know… but it doesn’t sound good.” The duo started sprinting, doing a little bit of parkour in order to navigate the debris. Especially since Rhino was the one who caused it.

_Unexpected power surge detected. Incident response team required. Electrical fire detected._

“ _Hey, what's your status?_ ” Yuri asked. 

“Us? Just trapped in a prison with every criminal I've put away in the last eight years… or thirteen, counting the blip, but it doesn’t really count. No biggie,” Peter responded sarcastically. Kris and Peter crouched on railings, surveying the area that laid in front of them,

A tail flicked itself into view, and grabbed the both of them. 

“This is too good to be true…” Scorpion whispered. He examined both of them, twisting his tail and taking good, long looks at the two.

Peter lifted a finger. “Scorpion—can you hold on a minute? I was in the middle of a phone call and it was business—”

An explosion blasted the both of them away. The two of them coughed and hacked as they saw Scorpion’s tail slowly pull away.

“ _Lost you for a second there—you okay?_ ”

“Not really. Electro, Rhino, and now Scorpion are all on the loose. What’s going on in the rest of the prison?” Peter responded.

“ _The camera system’s almost up. I’ll give you a sit rep soon._ ”

“Okay. We’ll keep tracking Electro…” Peter spoke. Kris knocked more enemies to the ground, with Peter webbing them up afterwards, so they wouldn’t be able to get up. 

Once they were done, Kris and Peter ran to the other door, but was met with electricity that covered the entire ground. Luckily, their reaction time was faster, and they jumped to the ceiling.

“ _Whoah!_ ” They blurted out. The duo dropped down to see Electro, levitating, with electricity flowing around him.

“C’mon Spider-Man and Kid-Arachnid. I thought this was a _chase!_ ” Electro taunted. He gained more electricity around his person and ascended. 

“We gotta stop this guy…” Kris whispered. Peter and Kris both ran up a wall and web zipped out from a hole Electro left. Peter managed to catch up to Electro. Kris, however, who wasn’t really as efficient as left-handed swinging compared to his right-handed swinging, lagged behind by only two seconds in time. 

“Gotcha,” Peter said. He was ready to punch Electro.

When Kris finally managed to catch up, Vulture swooped in, grabbing his neck and rising higher and higher. His costume was a lot more different. It was more compact compared to the previous wingsuit, where it was big and bulky. This one was small and sleek. As if it was made to be more aerodynamic. “ _Vulture?!_ ”

“Long time no see! We're gonna have so much f—” Kris webbed his face, and got dropped because Vulture instinctively reached to remove the webbing. 

“Kris, you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. Just get to Electro.”

“ _Okay. I got the security cameras back online._ ”

“How does it look?” Both of them asked, still trying to catch up to Electro.

“ _Well… it looks like the entire population of The Raft has escaped. Including Martin Li. That makes FIVE of your worst enemies that are now on the loose._ ”

“Ha. For a second there I thought you were serious,” Peter joked.

“ _I *am* serious. I have to go—some of them are heading into the city._ ”

“This is nuts,” Kris commented.

_System reboot failed._

Peter and Kris managed to catch up to Electro. Electro turned around and glanced at the cargo boxes, grinning. With his electromagnetism, he used it to attract the cargo boxes together. The two of them saw this and webbed themselves through the cargo boxes, kicking Electro. He quickly recovered and flew higher. Kris tried to web him down, but he dodged it.

“Keep chasing! Party's almost over!”

Electro ascended into the air again. The both of them followed, but Electro sent more electric beams their way.

“ _System error… system error… system error…_ ”

“Electro! Stop!” Peter shouted. Once they finally got out of the tower, they zipped through the hole Electro left behind. They dropped onto another building, part of the Raft with a roll, and swung to a Helipad of sorts.

“How do you like my new suit?” Electro asked, leaning against a radio tower confidently, the electricity conducting all around him thanks to the fact it was metal. 

“Dashing. Where'd you get it?” Peter asked.

“It’s an exclusive club,” Electro answered, shrugging.

Vulture swooped in, followed by Rhino, who seemingly jumped to the Helipad. Rhino bashed his chest like a gorilla, and charged at Peter, who flipped over him. Vulture tried to take a swipe at Kris, but he webbed Vulture and directed him toward Rhino. A helicopter rose into view, and Mr. Negative was in it. He shot a beam of negative energy at the two. Kris’ spider-sense tingled, and Scorpion was right behind him. He dodged a jab from Scorpion and bounced off of him. The two of them, back to back, looked around, stancing and ready for a serious battle.

“Remember, he _said_ not to kill both of them,” Mr. Negative mentioned. He cracked his knuckles.

“Good idea. In fact, we don't have to do this at all if you don't want to,” Kris said.

“We _definitely_ want to!” Rhino bellowed as he charged for the both of them.

Vulture rose and swooped in to try to nab Kris, like a bird-of-prey. Kris, with the help of Peter boosting him upward, jumped up and punched Vulture, directing him somewhere else. Peter turned around and blocked Rhino’s fist, but was swiped by Scorpion, which sent him off the building. He swung around and kicked Rhino’s jaw. Kris, on the other hand, kicked Vulture again and webbed the tower, pulling him upward to get a better idea of what was happening. And by the looks of it, none of it was great. 

Thanks to his (Kris) Science knowledge, he used the Gravitational Potential Energy he had gained and used it to get as much Kinetic Energy by swinging around the radio tower in a certain way that granted him enough speed to _really_ do some damage. He landed a hit on Scorpion’s helmet. And because of how much speed he got, it shattered the visors of his helmet. 

Peter dodged Mr. Negative’s beam, webbed Rhino, and got behind him, but Vulture came in to stop that from happening. Kris webbed Vulture’s wing and directed him towards Mr. Negative and Electro. Because of how it was raining, and Vulture’s wings were made of metal, they were electrocuted.

But cockiness got the better of Kris and Peter. They thought they could beat them easily as a duo, but a cold, tingling, yet painful feeling stabbed both of their backs. They turned around to see Scorpion, taunting them by waving his fingers in a ‘goodbye’ motion. 

Mr. Negative, Electro, and Vulture recovered from the electrocution and marched over to them. Mr. Negative kicked the two of them, followed by Rhino, who stomped on the two. Vulture sliced their chests, leaving one huge gash in the aforementioned area. And while it was deep, it wasn’t deep to the point of it being permanent. Scorpion grinned at their suffering. Kris and Peter tried to crawl away, but Electro sends a beam of electricity at them. 

They writhed violently. It was like white-hot knives constantly stabbing them in every area of the body possible. They screamed in agony. The duo tried to crawl away, but the paralysis from the electrocution was getting to them. All they could do was slowly crawl as the five that had just beaten them close to death watched, all smiling. They both shook violently—not just from the electricity that was still surging through their bodies, but because of the cold rain, dropping on their bodies. And because of how badly the electrocution had affected their nervous system, it felt like the rain was burning.

“Aww! Look at the two big heroes of New York! All reduced to tiny, worthless bugs.” Electro taunted.

The familiar sound of clicking metal entered their ears. “ _No… It… it can’t be…_ ” Kris thought. It couldn’t be—it just _couldn’t._ Just as Kris and Peter’s hands reached the edge of the building, they were met with more pain. Emotionally _and_ physically. Two metal arms clamped both of their hands to the ground. Kris tried to take it off, but his body couldn’t move. Two extra arms followed.

Otto Octavius rose into view. “ _Doctor Octavius…?_ ” Peter weakly whispered, breathing heavily. 

“First and final warning…” Otto grabbed both of their feet with his metal arms, hanging them upside down and bringing the both of them to eye level. Peter tried to pry his foot free, but he couldn’t. Otto took one good look at them. “ _Stay out of our way._ ”

Otto tossed the both of them out to sea.


	44. ...Into The Fire / Picking Up The Trail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All hell broke lose when Kris woke up. It's almost like the world turned upside down.

Kris woke up with a sudden jerk, as if he had just fallen in his sleep. 

“What… what happened?” Kris asked weakly. He looked around. It seemed to be his room, with the exception of a bunch of medical equipment beside his bed.

“Thank God I took up Nursing in case my students were seriously injured, or you would’ve been a goner,” Ivy said. She took up Nursing because of that, _and_ the fact that there are super-powered villains battling heroes, in which the battles are bound to end up moving to a school. She considered that possibility and chose to do it. And luckily, she barely had to do these sorts of things. Except for maybe this time. 

“N-no, I’m… I’m fine. I have super healing!” 

“Does _that_ heal fast, then?” Ivy pointed at the visible gash on his chest. 

“What?” Kris blurted out. He looked down. The many injuries he gained were visible, including the gash. His head was still spinning, so he couldn’t really comprehend anything properly. All he could understand was that the crap hit the fan. And judging by how badly injured he was, he’s going to need a lot more than brute strength to deal with this. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine!”

Isabelle sighed. “Says the person who has _fourteen_ broken bones…” 

“Which means I have a hundred, ninety-two _non_ -broken ones,” Kris retorted. His face changed into a smile. “Thanks for that, by the way.”

“Yeah, well, it’s hard keeping your cousin hidden from the Sable Agents—they branded you _and_ Peter as priority targets,” Nicolette added.

“ _What?_ ”

Marilynn pointed to the TV that hung over their heads. 

“ _There is still no update from the NDC on the timetable for an antiserum, but they are working around the clock on a cure for this deadly disease… The city-wide quarantine is being heavily enforced. by Sable international… who maintain tight security over all possible transit points. Throughout the city. Police and Sable Agents continue to battle with Ryker's and Raft escapees…_ ”

“What is this, 2020?” Kris muttered.

“What?”

“What?”

~~~

“Okay. So, here’s the plan. I’ll be fine with the broken bones because I can regenerate really, really fast. So. You five’ll need to help keep watch in F.E.A.S.T. The sister location AND the main location. Those’re where most of the civilians are, and that’s where May is. Either one of them. Which is why, I need you guys to be my eyes and ears over there. Just let me know if there are any inmates, or bad guys, or basically anything that’s a threat, and me and Peter’ll be there. Got it?” Kris explained to the Quints, who were sitting down in front of him. He was clad in his spider-suit, but sans mask. 

“Alright. Take back the city for us, will you?”

“Heck yeah, I will!” Kris put on his mask and gave the five a thumbs up. “Bet on it!”

~~~

Kris swung around, patrolling the city. It _was_ as bad as people made it out to be—Ryker’s inmates took over rooftops, there were snipers everywhere, and people had to take refuge in the more empty rooftops. 

It was like the world turned upside down.

As he swung, he encountered a problem: Rhino. He saw Rhino destroying the Upper West Precinct. One thing that made him suspicious of Rhino, was how he didn’t try to fight back the cops. It wasn’t right—Rhino was the type to run headfirst into combat. Especially with cops. He must be working under Octavius’ orders. He dropped down and started fighting some thugs. 

~~~

When he finished off what seemed to be the last of them. 

“Good work out there, Kid-Arachnid!”

Kris turned around. It was Lysithea’s dad, Captain Ordelia. “Y-you too!” he awkwardly did finger guns.

“Captain! It’s the one Sable International branded ‘Priority Target’! What do we do?”

“We leave him be. Don’t believe the propaganda Osborn spoon-feeds you.”

Kris sighed with relief. At least he didn’t have to fight his girlfriend’s dad, because that would just be insane and would not be a good first impression… if he knew his identity. The sound of rockets boomed in the distance. He looked up and saw a battle between four buildings. “Oh, come on!”

Kris shot two webs at a building and pulled back as far as he could. Once he let go, it shot him up so high, he managed to take out the building with two inmates. As he swung to get the other three, he got caught in bolas. “Priority Target acquired. Proceeding to pacify.”

“Guys—you do know there are other ways to ask for an autograph, right?” Kris broke free from the energy bolas and avoided them, to save them for last, because they’re definitely the most annoying to deal with. 

“So! What did you wanna be when you grow up? Did you say, “I wanna become a facist oppressor”? Because I heard from Spider-Man himself that you guys kept people, who didn’t even do anything wrong, imprisoned!”

~~~

Kris dusted his hands, smirking at the captured Sable Agents. “So. What happened to “Proceeding to pacify”?”

His interface shifted, and ‘INCOMING CALL BY: LYSITHEA’ showed up. “Huh. Okay…” He answered.

“ _Kris! Thank god—we need you at the Veteran’s Center—where are you?_ ” Lysithea spoke. Her voice was panicky. And that was enough for Kris to start swinging as fast as he could to the Veteran’s Center. The sister location for F.E.A.S.T. 

“I got held up—are you okay? What’s happening?” He said. Good thing that he managed to keep his composure, or else he would’ve messed up the swinging and be twice as late.

“ _The convicts started a fire! We got the building staff out, but May and your cousins are trapped inside. I’m trying to find a way into them, but the fire’s spreading so fast…_ ”

Now _that_ sent Kris into a panic. He was letting go of his webbing too early more frequently, and he kept on pressing the web-shooter button too early, making it shoot into the sky. 

“Stay where you are, Lysithea. I’ll handle this.” The call ended, and Kris was trying his best to not slip so much. “Dang muffin—move it Kris—move!”

~~~

Kris finally made it to the building. He swung in, feet-first, and into the fire. “Guys? GUYS!”

“Over here!” A faint voice called. 

Kris swung through the falling debris, landing onto a platform, where Peter was there. He was lying on his stomach, trying to support the slanted platform May and the Quints were on. He shot multiple webs at the area farthest of where the platform seemed to be hinged. And that was enough to stabilize the platform for all of them to stand steadily. 

Lysithea and MJ crawled through the window. They looked around for a way to create a bridge of sorts. Lysithea found a pillar and started to push. But because she was small, she couldn’t move it. It took MJ and her combined strength to push the pillar down. It created a bridge and the six that were trapped across made it through. Peter and Kris sighed with relief.

~~~

The city felt a lot more under control, now. The Quints were staying over at F.E.A.S.T to help, Lysithea is assisting MJ with finding the antiserum, everything’s going well. 

Kris and Peter examined Time Square, because that place seemed to be where the outbreak started. Especially since so many officers were wearing masks, and there were tents, ready to have officers be treated if they ever get infected by the bioweapon. 

Peter pointed at the signs as the duo walked around for evidence. “Okay… Let’s check the signs, first. There’s bound to be Devil’s Breath residue on it.”

Kris flipped signs. It was red. And from what he saw from the images in the news, the Devil’s Breath was red. But he’s also considering the fact that it’s blood, based on how the newspapers showed symptoms of it. 

He scraped a bit of it with his finger. It was fine, because he wore multiple layers of gloves, handed by the police. He brought it close to his lens, but not too close. “Hey, Pete? This stuff definitely _is_ the Devil’s Breath residue.” 

Peter jogged over to Kris’ location. He took a few good looks at it. “Okay—I made it so that my lens can track down minor traces of Devil’s Breath. And it looks like…” Peter looked in strange directions, looking at nothing. But to him, it definitely was something. He pointed at the building. “... it’s up there. The building with four billboards on each side.”

It turned out that there was a base of operations in the building, just as Peter had expected. It was… interesting, to say the least. If you wanted a base of operations that had what the villains had, then yes. This is what you’re looking for.

“Martin Li’s Mr. Negative, right?” Kris asked, looking at Mr. Negative’s table. It had a sword that seemed to be imbued with his powers, and a mask. A mask that the Demons (Mr. Negative’s Ragtag Gang Of Criminals) wore. Peter nodded. He still couldn’t believe the fact that Martin Li was Mr. Negative. 

It’s like some Jekyll and Hyde sort of situation. It was sort of cool to think of. How Mr. Negative came to be the Mr. Negative they all knew. Could it be that he was too ambitious in trying to find “why man plays this strange double game”? Or could it be that he wanted to separate the good and evil, but ended up making an evil persona? Or could it be something else…? 

Peter checked the more important one. Or, to his eyes, at least. It seemed to be Sable’s armor. Based on inference alone, Otto must have been studying the armor for weak points. He even annotated some specific parts of where to aim. The areas that are more vulnerable so that the agents could move fine.

“Ah, good ol’ Rhino…” Kris whispered. He picked up the piece that was displayed. Many other scientists tried to crack open Rhino’s suit, but failed. And this only took Otto a few weeks, judging by how the glue that was all over the table seemed fresh. (No, not that, get your mind out of the gutter.) There were even blueprints on Rhino’s suit. It was probably the schematics for when Rhino was first created as an experiment.

“So, Otto’s main priority is Oscorp…” Peter said, looking at the wall full of many images of either Norman Osborn, or just schematics of the building itself. “So, Li and Octavius have a vendetta against Osborn… but why?”

“It must be _something_ connected to their pasts.” Kris considered the possibility Norman was an actual prat and pissed off so many people. He’d know, because he’s also pissed off at Norman. He’s practically Donald Trump but is actually smart. “Like—he didn’t pay off debts he owed them or something?”

“Could be.”

Peter took a few steps and spotted Scorpion’s table. This one was interesting. It had glowing, neon green substances contained by two glass tubes, sealed off. He leaned forward, because there must be _some_ motivation for Mac to do this. He saw a piece of paper and looked at it. Of course—he has gambling debts. So he’s probably in it for that _and_ the money.

Kris jogged over to Vulture’s table. It had several x-ray images of a spine. It could be that being close to alien tech for a long time must have caused this spinal cancer. He guessed it, based on the fact that the lower part of the spine seemed… off.

“Huh… Electro’s suit was specially designed for his dream…” Peter mentioned.

“What?”

“Remember when he said that really dumb dream, about wanting to be ‘pure energy’?”

“Yeah, that one was insane.”

“Well, Otto made it so that he’s at least one step closer…” Peter pointed at the vest that rested on a mannequin’s top half. It looked like a model prototype. “There’s not really much here, though. Just that.”

“So they _all_ have motivations for working for Otto. But what about Li?” Kris wondered, pinching his chin.

“Didn’t we already establish that Li has some sort of vendetta against Osborn?” Peter answered, confused. “Well, it’s not really a confirmed thing, I’m just basing it off of inference. Especially since he kept a portrait of his mother and father, which is _especially_ weird, because he did say that they abandoned him…”

“Ooh, secret mysteries!” Kris exclaimed. “But yeah, must’ve been so focused on looking at the villains’ tables, I probably forgot.”

Peter turned to a map that was laid on a table. It was a map of Manhattan. But it felt empty. Otto’s the type of person to annotate maps. 

“Oh, it’s a big pile of nothing,” Kris commented. 

“Not exactly…” Peter pointed at the miniature lamp. “Otto most likely wrote it all down in invisible ink.” Kris nodded, slowly realizing what Otto might be doing. Peter pressed the switch. Nothing happened. “Kris, try and scan the room for any junction boxes nearby.”

“Aye-aye, Captain.” Kris saluted. He looked around the room for a junction box. He found one a minute later and shot it with his taser web. The light opened.

“Oh!” Peter exclaimed. He pointed at the many circled words. Kris looked at the map. “Okay, so Scorpion’s marked by the reservoir, which means he’s tasked to poison it, based on his history with poison. Electro and Vulture are paired together to take down the city’s power grid, because electricity, Rhino must be tasked with destroying the seaports, so we can’t get any food or water imported here. Martin’s going for the Devil’s Breath antiserum, seeing as he’s marked by Oscorp… using something called ‘Icarus’.”

“Don’t tell me Icarus is just another bioweapon, or a doomsday device…”

Kris and Peter jogged ahead. They’re going for Scorpion, first, because if the reservoir is poisoned, they doubted anyone would be able to make it out alive. While they got out, there was a box, marked, “Icarus”.

The duo stopped and looked at it. They exchanged glances and opened the lid.

“ _Hello, Spider-Man and Kid-Arachnid. I am—_ ”

“Otto Octavius. There _is_ no Icarus, is there?” Peter spoke.

“ _No. Martin needs no assistance to secure the antiserum. “Icarus” was a ruse to get you into position._ ”

“ _“Into position”?_ ” Kris muttered. Peter looked down. There were bombs. The duo ran out, kicking open the hatchet that sealed off the basement and into the billboard. They stood there, catching their breaths. 

Two small drones flew up to them and tied them. Vulture swoops in from below and takes the drone. “It’s refreshing to work for a man like Octavius! Back up plans for his back up plans!”

Kris and Peter got pulled around the city of Manhattan, and it was honestly kind of fun. Aside from the ‘trying not to get hit by a car’ part. It’s like a roller coaster, except there is no rollercoaster, and the only thing keeping you from falling is a rope. Lysithea called Kris. “ _Kris—wait, is that wind in your mic? Are you swinging? And why are you so close to an ambulance?_ ”

Kris looked around as he was being dragged by Vulture somewhere. “Uh—okay, Vulture just caught us and is dragging us around somewhere. Anyway, the more important thing is—you have to tell MJ about this. The Devil’s Breath antiserum is in Oscorp.”

“ _Okay, try not to die… I don’t know how does one wish people luck in these situations…_ ”

“It’s alright! It’s alright! I’ll just try and stop Vulture and possibly Electro from taking the power grid down!”

~~~

“The plan _failed?_ ” Electro said, looking at Kris and Peter, dusting themselves and getting ready for a fight.

“Yes. Onto plan B!” Vulture responded. Electro smirked, shooting electricity at the two before they even got themselves ready. But he’s a villain, after all. He doesn’t play fair. 

“Hey, Max! What happened to getting your cure?” Kris referenced the time Electro was starting out. He still wanted the cure, it’s just that Otto promised him one. The only way Kris knew about this was because he witnessed it in real life. Just a few blocks away from his original field trip, which was to ESU. That same field trip was the one that started it all. 

“Don’t call me Max!” Electro shouted, only targeting Kris instead of targeting both of them, like Vulture and him discussed earlier.

“Max! Maxie! Maximum! Maximillion!” Kris taunted, dodging more of the electricity with every word.

“Shut up. _Shut up. **SHUT UP!**_ ” Electro’s anger had caused him to discharge violently. And that had the generator that laid beneath him explode due to the excessive amounts of volts. Kris assumed that it must be one of the things powering him, because he moved to the other two generators. 

Kris destroyed all three generators by doing one simple thing: teasing Electro. It turned out to be so effective when it came to destroying the generators. “Argh! V! You’re up!”

Kris smirked as Vulture swooped in from above. He cleared his throat. “Yo, Adrian! It’s me! Kid-Arachnid!” He spoke in a different voice.

“What are you babbling about?” Vulture asked.

“No one ever gets my jokes…”

~~~

Peter, on the other hand, was trying to avoid Vulture’s excessive quill attacks. By that, it’s the feather-like things coming out of his wingsuit that can come back around like boomerangs. It was only a matter of time until Peter noticed how Vulture slows down when he uses that move. 

Peter stalled until Vulture’s quills were all gone. He swung behind Vulture and broke off one of his wings. Vulture tried to move, but he couldn’t. He just looked like a flailing, airborne creature. “M-my wing! I can’t steer!”

“Yeah, but you’re still airborne. How does _that_ work?” Peter pinched his chin. While they were investigating Otto’s lair, he noticed that Otto had notes on how to make him fly, but without the alien tech he had back in 2016. He noticed how the back had a significantly large back piece. It all clicked together. “Oh, V! I see, now!” 

He punched through the back piece and ripped out all the wiring. “You idiot! You’ve doomed us both!” Vulture had forgotten that Peter could swing. 

“Haven’t you been paying atención for the past—I don’t know, eight years?” Peter spoke. He swung the both of them into safety. “Actually, now that I think about it, this is the _exact_ same situation that happened when I first fought you! Weird, amirite? I’m—I’m honestly shocked. How could you forget our first fight?”

“Kid-Arachnid! I must break you…” Electro charged himself up and discharged. 

Kris laughed. “Y-you got it! You got the joke! I’m so happy I could stop fighting! Almost!”

He webbed up Electro. “Hey, Peter, the webbing is electrically-insulated, right?”

“Yeah, why?” Once he finished wrapping up Electro in webbing, he slammed him to the ground. 

“ _What happened?_ ”

Kris stopped. He webbed the earpiece away from Electro and held it up to his ear. “Electro’s been grounded,” Kris answered.

“ _Kid-Arachnid, I presume? If you really cared about this city you’d be helping me expose Osborn for the criminal he is!_ ” Otto spoke.

“By killing innocent people?”

“ _I would’ve restored the power!”_

_“You’re sick. You need help.”_

_“ _I have all the help I need. And we will not stop until Norman gets that he deserves._ ”_

_Kris angrily crushed the earpiece. He threw it to the ground and stomped away. Peter followed._

_~~~_

_“I hate it when they team up…” Peter muttered._

_“Yeah,” Kris agreed. The two of them sat beside each other, leaning against a wall. Their eyes shut._

_“Just gotta… catch our breath…”_


	45. Streets Of Poison / Supply Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Kris decided to tackle two different areas the Sinister Six decided to attack: The reservoir, and the shores. Peter dealt with Scorpion to prevent him from poisoning the water supply, and Kris snuck through the shores to try and get antibiotics.

The duo suddenly woke up to the sound of pouring rain that also pattered on their suits. “Jeezum, how long have we slept—?”

“Oh, dang. Reservoir,” Peter mentioned. 

~~~

“Okay. Here’s the plan: You’re gonna try and get as much supplies as possible for F.E.A.S.T. May told me that a lot of people there are getting worse every day, so we just need a lot. Especially during these times,” Peter explained, “I, on the other hand, are gonna have to deal with Scorpion—we need the water, or else we wouldn’t be able to make it out alive.”

“Yeah, I got it.” Kris swung out of the way. It took three extra swings and Peter landed by the reservoir roof. “If I was a mercenary dressed like a scorpion, where would I be..?” Peter wondered, scratching his chin and looking around.”

“Behind you,” Scorpion spoke.

Scorpion jumped forth in an attempt to stab Peter. He dodged and punched Scorpion’s jaw. But Scorpion had positioned it so that his tail would slash him as he fell back. “Me, I’d end it now. But Octavius is paying, and he wants to torture you… which I _respect._ ” 

“Dammit… what did he inject me with?” Peter questioned as he gingerly patted his slashed shoulder. The “poison” kind of looked like Nickelodeon’s slime, is what he would have thought, if he wasn't so focused on trying to survive the poison.

Peter kept blinking rapidly. One blink, everything was normal. Another blink, it's all a sea of green liquid. Poison, to be exact.

“Is that… A sea of poison…? Can’t be…” he whispered. “This can’t be real… must be the poison… but I can't take any chances… Gotta get to higher ground, then analyze whatever he injected me with.” Peter swung out of the reservoir. A tip of his toe had scraped the surface of the green liquid, and it burnt. “Note to self: DON’T touch the hallucinated green liquid!”

He ran up a building. The liquid slowly rose with him, and he started screaming, similar to that of a chimpanzee. Peter landed on a tip of the roof. He gingerly patted the toxin. He winced, and held it close to his eyes to analyze it.

“Scorpion’s made some upgrades. Hallucinogenic neurotoxin… my brains create nightmares that my body thinks are real,” He spoke. He had to create the antidote, fast. First he needed a natural steroid extract from an Eclipta Alba plant that should be able to do the trick. ESU’s greenhouse is nearby. His only hope is that it is in season. “I hate drugs…” he referenced that sentence Kris would say, which referenced what the president of the Philippines said.

Peter swung weakly to the greenhouse. It was disorienting, to say the least. The edges of his vision were wavy, like he’s close to fire. Not to mention the acid. It’d be weird to see Spider-Man randomly shouting when he’s touching nothing to the civilians. He spotted the greenhouse.

“The Eclipta Alba!” He exclaimed. But when he reached for it, it disappeared. Now, he didn’t even know if this was real or a hallucination…

“ _It can be both!_ ” Otto chirped.

What? Did Otto just read his thoughts? And he sounded odd—like a voice he hadn’t learnt in a long time. “Doc…? Y-you sound….”

“ _Like I did before the neural interface affected my mind. My obsessions were always there, but the interface allowed me to fully embrace them,_ ” Otto calmly spoke.

“I have to fix this. Fix _you._ Somehow,” Peter said, trying to reach out for Otto with a hand, only for the person in question to disappear, just like The Decimation. It gave Peter _serious_ flashbacks about it.

“ _Ah, Peter, always trying to shoulder the responsibility, even when there’s no hope. I can't tell you how many times your unfettered optimism has kept me going when things looked bleak. I’ll miss being with you, I really will._ ”

Peter kept on chasing after Otto, but every time he got closer, Otto turned into a ball of light and flew away, reappearing into himself. “I’m sorry, Doc. I’m so sorry.”

“ _Yes, yes. You’re sorry, and yet you let it happen. It makes one wonder where your priorities lie. I mean, if I was really that important to you, why would you let me destroy myself?_ ”

“I can help you! It’s the neural web, it's affecting your mind.” Peter kept running. The world split into a void, only remnants of buildings or ground laid before him. He shot a web in the sky. It remained still. He took a deep breath. “Tally-ho…” he sucked in his breath and swung. Turned out, it was just like normal swinging. He continued his pursuit of Octavius.

“ _You mean the neural web *you* helped create. The hard truth is *you* did this to me. Without *your* help, I would have never done any of those terrible things._ ”

Peter’s hands shook when he heard those words. Not because he was angry, but because he was hurt. Hallucination Otto’s words cut deep. It was enough for him that he had already blamed himself for practically everything. And now, a person he looked up to is blaming him? 

“I... should’ve seen what was happening to you…” Peter whispered. There’s the Eclipta Alba. In a small pot, resting there, peacefully. He reached for it, but the floor crumbled away beneath his feet, and he fell. “Whoah—WHOOOOAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”

~~~

The plants bought him time, but he needed an antitoxin to mix a permanent antidote. It clicked. Peter remembered that Harry had research stations that were developing a synthetic atropine. He’s gotta get there fast.

His spider-sense started to tingle, which was strange—his spider-sense didn’t tingle earlier, so why was it doing so now? Suddenly, the sea of poison started rumbling, and an eruption occurred. A giant scorpion tail—resembling Scorpion’s one—sprouted out of the water and attempted to stab him. He dodged it, but only by a little. He felt it tap the sole of his foot.

“Giant deadly scorpion tails… lovely. Thanks, brain,” Peter sarcastically muttered.

“ _How’re you feeling, spider? Raw panic crawling up your spine?_ ”

“ _Scorpion?_ How'd you get this number?” 

“ _Always asking the least interesting questions. It's “not how am I calling you?”, it's “*am* I calling you”? Maybe I'm just the favored screams of your dying brain…_ ”

“Real or no, when I cure this poison. I’m coming for you, Mac.”

“ _Hahaha! Big talk from the little bug. Have fun chasing pink elephants._ ”

Peter paused. “Did he just reference Dumbo?” Soon enough, he found the research station. He opened the doors and reached for the atropine, only for it to disappear again.

“ _You’re too late. Just as you were too late to help *me*._ ”

“This isn't you, Doc!” Peter reached for Otto, but he also disappeared only to materialize in a different area, just like last time's hallucination sequence.

“ _Ah, but it IS me. The "me" polite society found… inconvenient. The parts of myself I suppressed. But you helped me break those chains!_ ”

“I-I’m sorry... I’ll find a way to help you. I swear it!”

“ _Stop deluding yourself. You never help anyone. The poison isn't *in* you—you *ARE* the poison! Everyone you touch *suffers*._ ”

“Stop running from me! Let me try!”

“ _I want *nothing* from you. You’re a *failure*! At life, love, career! You bring nothing but *pain*!_ ”

“No, stop! I’m not giving up on you! Please. Just talk to me—I can help you!”

“ _So you can treat me like all the rest—containing me? Suffocating me? I will let my genius shine on its own! I saw you, Peter. Taking notes. Stealing ideas—a rat in my own lab._ ”

Peter raised his eyebrows. No, he didn’t steal any idea. He was just taking notes to further study what certain things are… or, _were._

“There it is... the atropine,” Peter muttered, reaching for it. Just like last time, the floor crumbled beneath him and he fell.

~~~

Now, Peter just needed to mix up the antidote. He took a great leap and swung to Otto’s old lab. That was his only other option. 

“ _Still with us?_ ”

“And nearly cured. Sorry to bust up your plans.”

“ _Oh webs, don’t worry. Plenty of surprises left for you. We'll be seeing each other again, real Scorpion soon._ ”

“Count on it.”

~~~

Peter spotted the lab. But the one thing stopping him from getting there was one thing. Or nine. Or more.It didn’t really matter. Scorpion Tails. Hundreds of thousands of them. He managed to avoid them, luckily, and somehow, and got into the lab.

“M-made it… somehow. But I'm running out of time… I need to mix the antidote. Finally… AARRGH!” Peter fell to his knees, vision fully distorted. 

“ _I think not. You're in my domain now._ ”

The building around him collapses and forms around Otto, who is whoever he is, now. The rubble around him looks like some sort of vertical tornado of rubble. Peter looked up and saw him fade away. Again.

“ _You're *just* like Osborn! Trying to steal my *genius*! Everything that happens now is *your* fault! I *knew* you were laughing at me! All of you, behind my back!_ ”

Peter followed him, only for Scorpion to appear, instead.

“ _Thought I forgot about you?_ ”

And for once, he fought Peter properly. It’s not just Mac slashing/stabbing at him anymore, he’s jumping around and delivering blows to him.

“Scorpion? Are you even _real?_ ”

“ _Hold still. I’ll show you._ ”

Peter dodged Scorpions attacks. Narrowly. 

“ _Not gonna be that easy!_ ”

“Oho, but it is,” Peter added, webbing him up before punching him so hard, his imaginary jaw just ripped off. Which was... Too gory for his liking. 

“Sure it is. Now I know you’re the poison trying to distract me. Bring it on.” Peter gestured to the other imaginary Scorpions to come at him.

“ _Some hero. Everyone you ever met suffers._ ”

Peter, still in the fight, just thought: “ _It’s like fighting internet trolls: knock one down, another pops up._ ”

The next thing that Scorpion said, really triggered him. Which was a rare occasion, where he genuinely gets mad, to say the least. “ _If I was your uncle, I would’ve jumped in front of a bullet too!_ ”

Sure, it was all in his head, but, hypothetically speaking, how did they find out about Uncle Ben? “My inner voice has really developed an attitude. He's hard to hit when he's moving.” Peter finished off what seemed to be the last of them and stopped. “Hope that’s the last of ‘em… I can barely stand up.” He looked around. The equipment he needed formed in front of him. “There’s the equipment I need.”

Peter reached for the equipment, and it didn’t disappear, and he was able to make the cure.

~~~

“Gah!” 

Peter looked around. He was inside the lab. Does that mean that he was fighting in the lab the whole time? Earlier, he was just at the doors. Now, he’s at his own office. Strange. He looked down, and he’s… indecent. Only his mask and boxers were on. 

“How did _that_ happen?” 

~~~

Kris hoped Peter was okay. But now, he had to temporarily set aside those worries—he’s got other things to do. Which was to help get antibiotics for the F.E.A.S.T Shelter. Especially for May, because from what one of Kris’ cousins told him, she’s getting worse. Even after they had asked her many times to take a break.

Kris hopped onto a tall lamppost. He surveyed the area. Thirty thugs—all armed. Three snipers. This was going to be a tedious but easy one. He webbed himself towards the two snipers that stood together, and shot a trip mine at one of their backs. Confused, they turned around but got stuck together. He pressed a finger against his lips, gesturing them to be quiet. 

Kris swung toward the third sniper and kicked him off the building, webbing him to a building. Now that the snipers were down, it was time to take on the other twenty-seven.

~~~

Kris kicked the last thug down. A low rumbling, resembling a bulldozer of sorts, occurred. He ran to one of the tents and opened the boxes. “Be the one, crate…”

He grabbed a bottle and crouched lower, inspecting it. ““Amoxicillin”… Perfect. And on the first go, too!”

His spider-sense went off. He shifted to the right quickly, and a SABLE agent got thrown at his direction. “Fo, God almighty…”

Rhino was there. He walked through the energy bullets like it was nothing and charged at them, crushing the two other SABLE agents against the wall. “Supply routes and schedules. NOW!”

The agents didn’t answer, because they were more focused on the fact that Rhino was literally crushing them against the wall. “ _Ya skazal—_ ”

Scorpion, who had just crawled over the wall, appeared. “Gentlemen—I apologize.” He dropped onto the car, his stinger glowing. He started teasing them, purposefully moving his tail close to them. “My associate is… Inelegant. He doesn’t understand the fine art of… _persuasion._ ” Scorpion stabbed one of them, the green toxin splattering everywhere.

“STOP! We’ll talk. WE’LL TALK!”

Kris cringed at the sight. “Did _not_ need to see that…”

He grabbed as many Amoxicillin bottles his jacket could carry and booked it. It was raining, and that meant his wall-crawling ability was rendered useless. And his webbing was low from fighting the thugs. _Why_ didn’t he plan properly? He wasn’t even expecting these events to even happen. 

Kris climbed up using a toolbox, but the rain made his leg slip, and he kicked the box off on accident. He scurried up the wall as fast as he could. “What was that?” Rhino spoke. 

“Check it. Now.”

Kris climbed on the cargo boxes, watching as Rhino made a mess of the place. He ripped out a small chunk of the cargo box and threw it at a light source. It malfunctioned a bit, especially since it’s: raining, and because of his strength. “We are having fun with lights, now? _I_ will have fun with your face.”

Kris giggled like a little girl. He immediately pictured those times his cousins would constantly squish his cheeks or just shake it. Then, he thought of that, but with Rhino. He jumped across the cargo boxes, his landing creating a loud sound. “Come out… NOW!” Rhino grabbed a wooden crate and threw it into the ocean. “I do not need this.”

Kris threw another chunk of cargo boxes at Rhino’s direction, and that must have angered him further. “Where. Are. YOU.” “No. More. GAMES!” Rhino punched a grate in search of him. “Where… Are… YOU!”

Kris’ phone rang. His heart dropped the second he heard his yodelling ringtone, and he immediately silenced it. “Dang it, Peter, you could have picked a better time…!”

“COME OUT! _NOW!_ ”

Kris found a cargo box that served as an inclined plane of sorts. He quickly climbed up, but Rhino punched a dent in it, throwing him off balance. There was a very obvious fist protruding out of a wall. He scurried over the cargo box. Rhino looks into the cargo box and punches the ground in anger. “It is chase of goose. I _HATE_ CHASE OF GOOSE!!!”

Rhino flipped the cargo box over the wall. Kris ran across the street and caught his breath. He looked at his jacket pockets. “Thank God, I didn’t drop any…” 

“Get off me!” A Ryker’s escapee threw a civilian to the ground.

“Just give us the wallet!”

“Give it to us, man!”

Krris looked at the scene. “Hey, man! You want a wallet, you say?” 

The Ryker’s escapees look at Kris. They looked at the spider-symbol on his chest. “Kid-Arachnid?!”

“Hey—I don’t have wallets, but if you stop robbing him, I could give you cupcakes!” The escapees ran for it like their lives depended on it. 

“Hey—come on! Was it the cupcakes?! It worked before!”


	46. Heavy Hitter / In The Heart Of Matter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris and Peter took on Rhino and Scorpion. After doing so, they did a stakeout at Osborn's place. Peter, however, assigned Kris to stay at FEAST.

It turned out that Lysithea managed to get her dad to help Kris and Peter. But that’d mean that he’s risking losing his job. Still, it’s good to know that he’s actually reasonable. The Batman movies lied to him. They led him to believe being the cops would be against the heroes. But he wasn’t mad about it. In fact, he was pretty glad Lysithea’s dad managed to get him to side with him and Peter. Or maybe it’s just him. 

Kris decided to call her dad to report what he knows, so they’d have a better chance of pulling through if he lets him in on it. “Captain Ordelia, um, Spider-Man and I figured out Rhino’s deal—he’s taking Oscorp’s relief centres. NOT the seaports. Food’s guaranteed safe.”

George laughed on the other end of the line. “ _You don’t have to address me formally. Just call me George. Anyway, I think I know which one he’s hitting next: reports of a possible earthquake and/or demolition derby at the Harlem centre._ ”

“Sounds like our boy. Headed there, now.”

“ _You holding up okay?_ ”

Kris guessed that George could tell that he was a teenager just from his voice, and physique from the last time they met. He breathed in deeply and sighed. “Tired, but pulling through.”

“ _We’ll get through this._ ”

Kris zipped to a water tower and paused, looking around. He lowered his voice, trying to be dramatic. “From his elevated position, Arachnicop spies his destination. The Harlem centre.”

“ _Are you—narrating yourself?_ ”

The call didn’t end. He hid his lips, similar to that of an elderly person without their dentures. “What? No, of course not!” He continued swinging, still narrating himself. “The commish never _did_ understand Arachnicop. Thought he was a loose cannon.”

George sighed on the other end of the line. “Already regretting this…”

While swinging, Kris snagged a selfie mid-air. It’s not usual for him to do selfies, but that’s only because he doesn’t really have to smile awkwardly at the camera while doing so in his Kid-Arachnid suit. “Another one for the BNFDArachnid page!”

~~~

Rhino had Peter in his hands. He was ready to slam his head to the ground, but Kris tossed a traffic cone on his horn. “Hey, I got the thing, in the thing! What do I win?”

“ _YOU!_ ”

“I win _me?_ Doesn’t make any sense.” Kris swung a crate at Rhino and swung around. He didn’t know how to deal with Rhino. He inspected Rhino from afar. His case was… unique. He noticed that some areas in the suit were wide open. Like his jaw, or the biceps. Kris was willing to bet a few bucks that it was torn open just by how big he really was.

“What do you think I am, stupid?”

“Well, you certainly are _dressed_ stupid.” It only enraged Rhino even more. Peter, on the other hand, was busy dealing with Scorpion to help. Kris landed on the side of a cargo box. “Didn’t you do a poetry class in the Raft? Like a poetry thing?”

“Da. Here is latest. “Along came a spider, I sat down beside him, then crushed his tiny body to bits”” Rhino slammed his fist on the ground, roared, and charged at Kris.

“Delightful.” 

~~~

“Rhino’s getting his suit removed. What did Octavius promise you, Scorpion?” Peter dodged the incoming poison that Scorpion shot from out of the tip of his tail and webbed the man into a bundle of webs before swiftly swinging his fists.

“Money. Gargan has no principles. He fights for profit,” Rhino spoke, still trying to fight Kris, who kept dodging his attacks, angering him further.

“Untrue!” Scorpion exclaimed. “I’d rip Spider-Man AND Kid-Arachnid’s face off for free.” He paused at the box that he stood on and shrugged. “The money’s a bonus.”

Peter had improvised this plan. He noticed that Kris was luring Rhino around, making him charge around. He webbed up Scorpion again, but didn’t do anything. Kris spotted this, and put two and two together. This’d lessen the load, but it would not be great for Gargan’s hospital bills whatsoever.

Kris lured Rhino around the corner. Rhino charged at him, but Kris jumped up last second. He had gained too much momentum to be able to stop in time, and crushed Gargan on accident. 

“Pete—Spider-Man! I got an idea for Rhino.” 

“Yeah? What is it?”

“Here it is…”

~~~

Peter grabbed a manhole cover. He looked at Rhino. “Hey, big man! Want to crush our skulls? Come and get us!” The two jumped in. 

Rhino punched a hole in the ground and dropped it. Kris and Peter stand on pipes, and Rhino would try to punch them. Instead, the pipes had steam in it. Lots and lots of it. They kept making him destroy more pipes, and he dropped to the ground, sweating profusely.

“Impossible… Doctor said I’m… I’m… impenetrable!” Rhino roared.

“Too true. And if _nothing_ can penetrate, you can’t perspire.” Kris dusted his hands and fist bumped with Peter. “The small areas that aren’t covered are sweating _for_ you. ‘S prob’ly enough under most conditions, but in a steam tunnel…”

Peter and Kris kicked Rhino down, and his chest heaved heavily. “Come one, come all! Before your very eyes—The World’s Largest Dehydrated Turtle!” Peter said.

“I swear I crush you… Promised Doctor I crush you… Crush you… crush you… crush you…” Rhino repeated.

“Are we losing it a bit, Aleksei?” Peter asked.

“Only Mama call me Aleksei. You’re not Mama! Not Mama… Mama…” 

“Yes, I think we are,” Kris said.

“Mama… Do I have to go to school…?”

“So, Aleksei, be a good boy and tell Mama: Where’s the antiserum for the Devil’s Breath?” Kris leaned forth, changing his voice slightly to be a bit more motherly, despite his low-ish voice.

“Osborn…”

~~~

“Okay, Comish, I got an idea where the antiserum could be. Oscorp.” Kris swung through the city, 

“ _Don’t you mean Arachnicop’s got an idea?_ ”

“Been doing a little thinking, commish. Policing’s a young man’s game, and Arachnicop… well, he’s no spring chicken.”

“ _*Please* be going where I think you’re going…_ ” George’s voice showed that he was internally begging for Kris’ Arachnicop joke to end.

“As of today…” Kris changed his voice again. “Arachnicop is officially retired!”

“ _Oh, thank God. I need a glass of water._ ”

The call ended, but Kris didn’t know. “We’ll all drink, commish. Drink to the memory of Arachnicop’s tireless…” He paused, slowing down to a walk instead of running across buildings. “C-Commish? George? You there?” Kris sighed. “I guess the emotion of the moment overwhelmed him.”

~~~

Kris grabbed his phone and watched movies with Peter, sitting on rooftops. MJ and Lysithea were breaking in the Osborn’s Penthouse, and they wouldn’t be able to help if they were caught. The best they could do is stand guard, in case something went south. 

He grabbed his phone, scrolling through Instagram. Many people complained about home quarantine. Well, at least Norman Osborn is actually doing something about the outbreak. Plus, what’s the deal with home quarantine? It’s a dream for introverts like him. But because he enjoyed being Spider-Man more, he’d may or may not complain about it, but that’d depend on the situation.

He looked over to Peter, who was just looking at his phone, listening to music and waiting for MJ. Stakeouts were boring. “Kris, I wanna ask you something.”

“Alright, spill, Pete.”

“I’m gonna need you to watch over May. I’m worried about her. She’s overworking herself, and she’s taking very small ten-minute breaks every three hours.” Peter’s voice was dry. Kris bit his lip, trying to find a way to comfort him.

“D-don’t worry! Once we get the cure, she wouldn’t have to work as hard!” 

“Yeah. I just hope that MJ and Lysi—” Peter got interjected by MJ’s sudden call. Kris could tell a worried look spread across his face from under the mask as he answered. Before he could say anything, he was interrupted.

“ _Pete, you here?_ ”

“Turning off Lex, now,” Peter spoke. “are you okay?” Kris and Peter spoke at the same time.

“ _We will be in a few seconds. Northwest Corner._ ” MJ told Peter. The duo looked at each other and nodded. They leapt and started swinging.

“ _Hey, you ready?_ ”

“Wait, wait, wait, hold on, hold on, what?” Peter stuttered. 

“ _Too late. You two’re up!_ ”

Lysithea’s hair stood out from the orange sunset, so it was easy to see them. Kris grabbed her mid-air, and Peter grabbed MJ. “Jeezum, and you called _me_ crazy!”

~~~

Kris placed some boxes beside a sick person, taking out more of the Amoxicillin supplies he took earlier. “May—Peter said you should take a long break. Like, maybe five hours.”

“And leave these people to be sick?” May coughed. “Over my dead body.”

Lysithea handed out more masks to the sick. She stopped to look at a maskless woman. “Hey—Ma’am, you gotta wear your mask. Reduces chances of getting the virus.”

“And let it take away my precious oxygen? No thanks!” The woman snapped.

“Okay, Lysithea, let me take it here.” Kris gestured to her to provide the other maskless people with masks. He sighed, knowing this one would be a very troublesome argument. “Ma’am, there’s research that shows masks don’t lower your oxygen levels.”

“Of course _you_ would know, _Kid-Arachnid!_ ”

“Oh come on, that was _so_ last year, and the Bugle made a retraction.” 

~~~

Kris was clearing out boxes, still not enjoying the smell of a surgical mask. Unlike his Kid-Arachnid suit, this one wasn’t odourless. He sighed and happily looked at the organized table. He was proud that he organized something for once. 

Suddenly, the doors burst open and Peter was being dragged, his eye lenses closed. A doctor and the Sable Lady helped him. It seemed to be Dr. Michaels, based on the images he saw when he snuck into Oscorp tower. With no hesitation whatsoever, Kris swept the table, the boxes falling off and giving Peter space to lay down. “I need to speak to your head doctor.”

“Uh, there’s only my cousin, but she isn’t a head doctor. Just a nurse.” Kris said at almost the speed of light itself.

“Then who’s running this place?”

“Well—Me, mostly.” Kris grabbed masks and gloves for the man.

“Okay. It’s been a while, but I’ll do my best. Give me whatever you have that’s sterile.” The man pressed his hand on Peter’s hip. Ivy, who was tending to the others, walked into the scene, gasped, and began helping.

Now—you may be wondering: What the hell happened?

~~~

Peter looked around. He was in the Negative World, according to what Kris called it. He still couldn’t get over how peaceful it really was, if it wasn’t all about negativity. “I know about the accident! I know what happened to your parents!”

““The Accident”? You sound as clinical as Osborn!” Mr. Negative spoke, his voice ringing in Peter’s ears, distorted. “My parents died because of _me!_ Because of what _Osborn_ did to _me!_ ”

A door appeared in front of Peter. He opened it. A child was strapped to a chair, with two other adults beside him. A blast of negative energy blew up, as if it was in slow motion, the explosion spread across the room slowly. It must be the scene MJ described to him. “You’re more than your past! Don’t let it control you.”

“I tried so hard to make my parents proud, to honour their legacy. But to truly honour them, Osborn must see justice.”

Li’s office flickered into sight. The shrine in his office was a lot more pronounced compared to the other furniture in it. When the shrine opened, he walked into a room. It looked so surreal—white dots floating around, pieces of paper, and masks everywhere. His parents’ photo floated towards him. He tapped it, and it felt like the whole room was being sucked towards it. 

~~~

Peter fell to his knees. He was back in the normal world. He snuck into the room that seemed to be an observation deck, because it overlooked the large room he was in. Mr. Negative was there, using his sword on Osborn. When he was going in for another swing, Peter webbed it. 

“Martin!” Mr. Negative looked at him. He pulled the sword away, and Peter flipped forth. “This won’t bring your parents back!”

“Why do you insist on trying to save this piece of _scum…_ ”

Peter knew the feeling all too well, because he was in those shoes, before. Back then, with Dennis Carradine. His uncle’s killer. He relaxed his posture. “I’m trying to save _you,_ Martin. Don’t let it win—fight it!”

Mr. Negative’s breathing seemed to relax. Until his breaths deepened, and he blasted Peter out of the observation deck and into the large room. 

Mr. Negative jumped forth and slashed at the ground, but Peter flipped backwards, avoiding it. “Osborn _must_ be punished! He has kept his cancer upon this city for too long!”

“Osborn deserves _true_ justice—he won’t see it unless you stop now!” Peter threw a monitor at him, distracting him long enough to throw punches his way. But as he was doing so, Mr. Negative flickered back from being himself, or his alter-ego.

“I will never stop!”

Peter punched Martin, sending him across the room. He flickered back to himself, gripping his face. His face was scrunched. He seemed to be in pain. “Fight it, Martin! You can walk away!”

“No. Osborn must _SUFFER!_ ” Mr. Negative flickered back, and he had this giant demon. It was like his stand. He floated at the chest of the demon, and it was like it dittoed his movements. He scratched the ground, and multiple shadows appeared.

“Great…”

~~~

With one last attempt to injure Peter, he summoned back the demon and tried to reach for him.

Peter saw this coming—he ran up and shot a web at the demon’s face, jumping through the fingers and shooting another web, kicking Martin’s face at full force. He rolled and struck a pose. The demon shrieked, and it disappeared, the world going back to normal. 

“Osborn… needs to pay…!” Martin reached for the antiserum from his pockets.

“I know…” Peter webbed the antiserum from his hands. “But this is the wrong way, Martin.”

“Yes, Spider-Man! Get him! Get him while he’s down!” Norman shouted. Peter rolled his eyes at Norman’s words. 

Low rumbling could be heard. Dust from the ceiling fell. Peter’s spider-sense went off harder than it’s ever been, before. The ceiling was ripped apart, and Otto came down. He looked furious with Martin. “Why—is everybody but _me_ —so utterly— _ **USELESS?!**_ ”

Otto smacked Martin across the room, the railing dent from the impact. Peter glanced at Martin then turned back to him. Otto used his arm on Peter, knocking the antiserum out of his hands. Peter struggled to keep the arm from smashing him into the ground. Otto’s face looked strained, as if it required his own effort as well to push him down further. Peter looked at the antiserum, then back to Otto. 

With all he could, he pushed the arm to his right. It threw Otto off balance, and Peter made a run for it to the antiserum. Otto kept sending more arms his way, Peter dodging most of them. He jumped over one that Otto used to sweep his legs. He backflipped. The antiserum still in view, he webbed it to his hands. Antiserum in hand, he webbed Otto’s face, but was thrown against the wall. 

“I _gave_ you—an _ample_ warning. It was _one_ simple thing you could do!” Otto then threw Peter to the other side of the room and into a metal pipe. He smashed Peter’s head in, and tossed him over his head and brutally slammed him to the ground. Peter went limp. “The kid gloves are off. No do-overs. No take-backs. And no convenient antiserum to save the day.”

Otto lifted Peter’s body. He took one last look at him. The antiserum slipped out of Peter’s hand, but he swiftly caught it with his metal arm. He grinned at it. “Otto?”

Otto looked at Norman, who was on the observation deck. He dropped Peter and looked at Norman, grinning. “That look on your face… you can’t imagine how _satisfying_ it is.”

While he talked, an arm circled Norman. It tightened its grip on him. Otto tilted his head. 

“ _Ready for your final act?_ ”


	47. Destroying Your Own Creation / No Other Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With May's life on the line, Peter had no other choice but to battle Otto. Kris volunteered to step in, but Peter told him to stay and watch over May.

Kris sat beside Peter. He didn’t know what to do. Peter. A person he looked up to, his idol. Now, like this. Almost dead, surprisingly still alive. Peter moved his arm, and he fell over sluggishly. “You’re awake?”

“Where’s May?” It sounded like his voice hurt just from uttering those two words.

“Hey—hey, take it easy.” Kris helped Peter back on the table. “Your spine’s all jacked up. And your ribs were poking into some vital organs! The doc was surprised you managed to live, though. And, also, if Otto has the antiserum, I could do it for you!”

“No… I need you to… stay at FEAST…” Peter tried limping towards May’s office, but he fell to his knees. He clutched his chest, breathing heavily. Kris felt a sting in his chest. A sort of pain that he didn’t want to tell Peter, but felt like he _should_ tell him. MJ spotted him, and quickly supported him to May’s office.

~~~

“They say she could go at any moment…” MJ said quietly. It sickened Peter to see her pale, almost dead-self on a hospital bed. He tore his hand away from the wall he used to support himself and began limping. “Where are you going?”

“I need to find Otto… he has the antiserum—” Peter dropped to his knees. He massaged the side that hurt a lot more compared to the other, and struggled to turn to MJ. She had to help turn his head to her. 

“ _I don’t know if I can beat him…_ ”

“Maybe you can’t,” MJ said. “Maybe Spider-Man needs help from his friend, Kris and Peter.”

Peter slowly turned to her, confused. “What…?”

“Kris and Peter helped build those arms, remember? If anyone could find a weakness, it’s them.” With those words, through the pain and weakness, Peter felt the fire of his determination light back up. He stood back up and paused for a brief moment before walking, his limp less pronounced compared to a few moments ago. 

“Go get ‘em, Tiger.”

~~~

Kris arranged more boxes. If Peter’s confident that he could take down Otto, he had to just believe. Because he knew Peter’s stubborn when it came to decisions between the city or his own life. “Maybe it’s this one…”

“Jeezum—!” Kris instinctively slapped his hand. “Oh, come on. _Again?_ ” Kris looked at the spider that had its legs curled up on his hand. A sharp buzz surged through his fingers and skull. It might have been his imagination, but he could have sworn the tip of his fingers momentarily disappeared. 

“Seriously, what’s with spiders and _me?_ ”

~~~

Peter walked into his office, clutching his side. He looked at Otto’s diagrams of how the arms should work like. “You did the impossible, Doc…” he whispered. He turned to where he had hid the schematics, picked up a small scroll of blue paper and opened it. “But now I have to destroy it. With a _little_ creation of my own…”

Peter grabbed a wrench from the tool rack. Marker in hand, he redrew on the whiteboard. He got to working. 

What he was working on was a new Spider-Suit. Not really a spider-suit, but more of an upgrade to his suit. Like a layer of armor around it, because he knew that he’d be going into this fight. And based on his injuries, it’s not going to be a particularly pretty fight.

The suit he’s working on—he called it the “Anti-Ock suit”—was designed specifically to be able to absorb the kinetic energy from Otto’s arms. Like Vibranium. A budget version of it, that is. And because this suit was made from the same metal the arms were made of, it’s bound to be just as durable as the arms. He glanced at the clock. 9.30 PM.

~~~

3.36 AM. He smiled and nodded at the finished product. He put it on. It was kind of like how he had made it out. Exactly the same. Especially with the black and yellow colour scheme.

He pressed his wrists to slot in the new web-shooters. They were new because he made it so that the distributed nano-mesh in the new web-shooters can continuously refill his webbing. Which was exactly what he needed for the fight, in order to try to immobilize the arms. 

He activated the interface with a simple press of his web-shooters. Peter held the temple of the suit, looking around and adjusting the eye lenses so that they can be expressive. He took a huge breath and relaxed his posture, especially his hands, while also maintaining the hero-like stance. 

Peter’s phone buzzed, and he checked it. Otto’s climbing up Oscorp Tower. He safely slotted the phone into his belt, which hid underneath the suit.

~~~

Otto stopped at the roof of Oscorp Tower. He turned to Norman, holding him over the edge. “You want me to _beg?_ Not gonna happen!”

Otto laughed. “The world will know the truth…” His facial expression changed drastically. “ _…Before they mop you off the pavement._ ” He tightened his grip on Norman. He took out a phone and placed it close to Norman’s face. “Tell them what you did!”

“I… _never…_ ”

Otto moved Norman farther from the edge. He gritted his teeth. “Everything you have is built on lies… _**LIES!**_ ” He dropped Norman, looking at him as he fell. He caught him. Norman’s wallet fell from his pocket. He lifted Norman to eye level. “You _stole_ my company! My _ideas!_ Now… _the truth._ ”

Norman nodded. “The truth… okay…” His facial expression changed. “The truth is… You were only ever worth a damn, when you worked for me!” Otto’s lip twitched. His grin lowered. “The truth is… You could never _accept_ that _I’m better_ than _you!_ You’re a failure, Otto! _And you always will be!_ ”

“FAILURE? _FAILURE?! **I’LL SHOW YOU FAILURE!**_ ” Otto screamed at his face, dropping Norman. This time, he didn’t bother to catch him. He stared at him, before moving away.

Peter caught Norman mid-air, and tossed him into a building. “Spider-Man? _Spider-Man!_ Yes!” As Peter ran up the building, Norman pumped his fist in the air. “Go get him! Ha! Make him pay!”

Peter jumped backwards and webbed the small towers of Oscorp Tower, dropping onto the scene. “Give me the antiserum!” Otto turned around. “Otto… you worked your whole life to help people. _Please…_ ”

Otto positioned his arms. He raised himself higher, as if he’s a being of higher power compared to Peter. “You’re fighting the _wrong_ man…” Two arms rose upward, ready to attack. “ _…but have it your way._ ”

Otto attacked first—his attacks were much faster than earlier, and he got hit. He was preparing to pull his punches, because he didn’t want to fight Otto. He thought words could reach him, pull him out of the darkness. Something to just make him stop all this madness. “We don’t have much time—please!”

“I’ll turn over the antiserum when Osborn pays for his crimes!” 

Peter webbed up Otto’s arms in an attempt to get him to not move around as fast. It worked, and he was able to land a few hits on Otto. The webs tore off, and Otto threw him off the building. Peter latched on with a piece of the OSCORP words, but was hit, tearing a chunk of the word.

Peter webbed the building, then the word. The momentum he got was enough to throw it at Otto like a javelin. It narrowly missed his head, which was just a few inches away from it. He used the two arms he used to catch it with and ripped it in two, throwing it at Peter. 

“ENOUGH PLAYING!” Otto shouted. He climbed the mini tower on Oscorp Tower and jabbed it. The electric current kept flowing, and it heated up the roof. Peter swung around, dodging the chunks Otto was throwing at him. He threw it back at him and webbed himself toward Otto, punching him and shooting two webs at him, pulling him off the tower and into the edge of the building. 

“Let me save the city—then we can do whatever you want!” Peter shot taster webs at Otto, rendering his arms temporarily useless. 

“I already know what I want, now get out of my way, before I _really_ hurt you!” 

Otto swept at Peter, but he dodged it and shot a web at Otto’s face, pulling himself at the man and punching. “What happened to the man who wanted to help people?!”

“The _weakling?!_ The _**loser?!** He’s gone!_” Otto smacked Peter’s chest and into the tower. 

“Doctor—you’re not thinking straight. Let me help you!” Peter webbed Otto’s face, distracting him. 

“On the contrary, I _finally_ have clarity!”

“Please! Every second we fight, someone could die!” Peter pleaded, shooting more taser webs at Otto.

“ **YES!** Then Osborn would have to answer _**FOR EVERY ONE OF THEM!**_ ” Otto jumped to the mini tower and threw chunks of it at Peter again. Peter dodged it and web-zipped to Otto. He jumped behind and ripped out the neural interface. “What are you—? _**NO!!!**_ ” 

Peter looked at the interface in his hand, then back at the arms that seemed to still work. He looked at Otto’s nape. It was a decoy layer. The _real_ one was beneath. Otto grabbed his arms and squeezed his wrist. Peter screamed in pain as small remnants of the webbing splattered out. The pain was excruciating. 

Otto then threw Peter to the other side of the tower. He tried to shoot his webbing, but the webbing weakly fell out. He looked at his web-shooters, then back at Otto. Otto tried to attack, but Peter crawled around swiftly. After the fourth turn, Otto finally managed to smack him.

Peter’s head smacked against the tower. The shell of his mask was broken. His right eye and jaw was exposed. The left visor was cracked. He gripped his jaw, wondering how he’d be able to fight Otto without him finding out his identity. After all, Otto’s smart enough to put two and two together once he sees his jaw or eye. They spent time together.

“Such a disappointment… _Parker._ ”

Peter’s eyes widened. His throat tightened and a hand tugged at his heart. It was painful for the heart to even beat. It burnt. “You _knew…?_ ”

“I tried to _warn_ you, Peter. _Both of you._ But you _didn’t. Listen!_ ” Otto shook his head.

Peter looked down. If Otto knew this whole time, that meant that he knew he was going to do this, having to put his and Kris’ loved ones in danger. Anger bubbled up, replacing the shock he previously had. Anger he had never felt before. He was betrayed. With gritted teeth, he looked back at Otto. “You _**knew!**_ ”

Otto shook his head again, a small smile forming on his face. “I won’t let you win…” Otto swiped at Peter, but he jumped to the top of the tower. “This means _too much_ to me!”

“Not more than it means…” Peter jumped at Otto. “ _ **…TO ME!**_ ” He threw Otto off balance. It made him grip the tower. Peter kicked Otto’s leg off with nothing but brute strength. The imbalance in the weightage had caused the tower to tumble down.

Peter slid down the tower, looking down at Otto, anger fueling him. Anger that Otto was willing to do this. Explosions boomed at his back, sparks floating down on them. The sound of the helicopter watching the battle blared in their ears. Peter breathed heavily, looking Otto dead in the eye, and deciding to pull his punches no longer. Peter started swinging his fists at him at full force. “Can’t you _see_ all the _people_ you’re _hurting?!_ ”

“You’ll _never_ understand! You haven’t _suffered_ like I have!” Peter was pained by those words. Yes he had. His parents were government agents, and they had to be separated from him, his Uncle Ben died because of his selfishness, and now, May was about to die. If anything, he was supposed to be the one to say it. “ _You_ and _Kristian_ should be on _my_ side!” 

“WE _**WERE!**_ ” Peter shouted, dodging the swipes Otto was taking and punching him. He grabbed the arm that was about to stab him and kicked Otto, bouncing off of him. But Otto caught him with his arm. “Please… think of the man you _were!_ ”

“That man is _gone._ You can’t _save_ me, Peter.”

“Then I guess… You’ll have to save… _yourself!_ ” Peter pulled Otto’s arm away and swung at him. “You were my _hero!_ ” Otto ignored these words. He kept attacking him without any remorse of all the pain he had caused the both of them. 

“You meant so _much_ to me!” Peter bounced off the building and kicked Otto’s chest. “I _hate_ that you’re making me do this!” Without holding back, he delivered a powerful punch at Otto. “We were going to change the _world!_ ”

The punch had knocked Otto’s goggles off. The eyes Peter saw—weren’t the ones he remembered. They were snide, and cunning. “You look tired, _Parker._ ”

“Not _tired…_ ” Otto slammed an arm at Peter, but he dodged it and bounced onto Otto’s arm. “...Just _hurt._ ”

Otto twirled around, and Peter kept trying to reach his nape. He was so close—but an arm slammed him against the wall. Peter tried to rip it off him, but his spider-sense had tingled. He looked up. An arm was about to smash his skull in. Fortunately, he was able to stop it. It kept snapping at him with the other two extra fingers. Trying to hold it back was like trying to stop a hydraulic press. “Otto! Stop!”

While he wasn’t looking, the bottom finger extended and stabbed him, continuously going until it was straight. “Oh, Parker… If you want to “change the world”, you have to be the kind of man…” Otto pulled out the antiserum, as if he was taunting Peter with it. “...who can make the hardest decisions.”

Peter breathed heavily. “I couldn’t… _agree… **MORE!**_ ” Otto forced the arm inward, but he took it as an opportunity. Through the pain, he gripped Otto’s head and ripped out the interface from his nape.

The arms began malfunctioning, lifting him and spasming like crazy. The harness began shooting off yellow sparks. “NO! _**NOOOOO!!!**_ ”

Peter, coughing violently and screaming from the pain, pushed the finger out. The harness exploded, and the arms went limp. Otto screamed as he fell, smoke covering the air. Peter looked down, covering the wound on his shoulder. “The antiserum…”

He dropped down, diving in with Otto. Otto dropped into a room, and Peter did the same. He scrunched his face, trying to stand up, removing the mask. Sweat and blood covered his face. He limped towards Otto and grabbed the antiserum. Otto took his wrist. “Peter… I saw you and Kristian as sons. I should’ve known you’d turn on me. Just like all the others.”

Peter’s heart burnt at the words. His eyes shined with the tears slowly filling it. He gripped his side tightly. “Turn…? _Turn…?_ I _worshipped_ you! Your _mind…_ your _conscious…_ wanting to help _others!_ The way you _never_ gave up!”

Otto pulled him closer. “That’s because men like us… have a _duty. A responsibility._ To _use_ our talents in the service of others. Even if they don’t appreciate it. We have to do what’s best for those _beneath_ us, whether they understand it or _not._ ”

Peter tore his wrist away from Otto’s grip. He turned around, the tears already flowing. “No, you’re _wrong!_ ” He turned back to Otto. “ _ **YOU WERE EVERYTHING I WANTED TO BE!**_ ” He gripped the limp arm and looked at him, dead in the eyes. “You just… threw it away!”

“Yes… of course… you’re right, Peter.” Otto’s eyes changed. It was the kind eyes he once saw. “I see that now. The neural interface affected my mind. But I can fix it.” Otto pointed at Peter, confidence in his eyes. “ _We_ can fix it… _together._ If you’ll help me…”

Peter shook his head, not allowing himself to fall for this facade. He walked away “I’ll do everything I can. I’ll make sure you get the best help—”

“NO!” Otto lifted his head. “If they put me away, they’ll take my arms!” Otto was scared, and he could tell when he turned around. His eyebrows furrowed, and his lips were curled into a frown. “I’ll be trapped in this… _**useless**_ body!” His breathing calmed down. Peter took two steps forth. “Please, Peter. That… wasn’t me. You said… you’d never abandon me. You promised… remember?”

Peter promised himself internally that he wouldn’t fall for this emotional manipulation, but he couldn’t help but feel bad. Especially since this older man was the very man he looked up to since he was a child. And if he were to leave him, he’d leave his brilliant mind into a useless shell that couldn’t do anything. “And of course… you’ll rest easy, knowing both of your secrets are… safe with me.”

Peter shook his head slowly. “You do what you think is best, Doc. It’s all any of us can.” He turned around and started limping.

“Peter?”

He ignored Otto’s call. He shut his eyes, closing his heart to his calling. “Even when it hurts like hell.”

“Peter, where are you going?” Otto kept trying to lift his head, but due to his disability, he could barely move. “PETER?” He kept lifting his head swiftly, breathing heavily for every lift, but stopped, screaming at the top of his lungs.

“ _ **PETER!!!**_ ”

~~~

Doctor Michaels looked at the antiserum under a microscope. Peter, still clad in his spider-suit, looked at May, and her steadily declining heart monitor. It sickened him to see her, lying there, in bed. Her pale skin wasn’t already helping, but the beeping didn’t help as well. 

Michaels sat up straight and turned to Peter. “It’s still viable—but we’ll need the entire sample to produce more doses.” 

“H-how long will that take?”

“A few hours. Maybe a day.”

Peter could feel his throat tighten. It was like he was being suffocated, but he can’t stop it, because nothing’s there. The mere sight of May, lying in bed was enough for the familiar sting of tears ready to pour behind his eyes. It pained him. But he _had_ to consider a possibility. “What if we use it to cure someone right now?”

Michaels broke eye contact with Peter. He sighed, not knowing how to tell him.

“Then there won’t be enough to cure the others,” he spoke. Peter looked back at May, then back at Kris, who stood by the door, still massaging the back of his hand. “I’ll give you a few minutes.”

Michaels stood up and walked out the door. He patted Kris’, Lysithea’s, and MJ’s shoulders, gesturing them to leave Peter be. Everyone already could tell what was going to happen. The trio followed the doctor out of the room.

Peter, still clutching the antiserum, looks at it. His hand was shaking. He limped to May’s side. His voice was shaky as he spoke. He held May’s hand tightly, letting nothing persuade him to let go. “You’re gonna be okay, ma’am. I’ve got the cure right here.”

“Take off your mask…” May said. She smiled at him, holding his hand. 

“ _I want to see my nephew._ ”

Peter couldn’t hold it in anymore—the tears he tried suppressing under the mask broke out. He took off the mask and looked at May. His throat tightened even more. “You _knew?_ ”

“I’ve known for a while.”

“I never wanted you to worry…” Peter’s voice continued to be shaky. He shook his head, his eyes constantly blinking, so as to not break down in front of May. Because he knew he had to stay strong. He didn’t want May to worry herself with him, now—especially on her deathbed. 

“ _I did._ ” May continued to smile at him. “And I am so proud of you. And Ben would be, too. All the people you’ve saved…”

She’s wrong. It’s true that he saved many people, but he can’t even save the person who took care of him—raised him, since he was five? Ben died because of his selfishness. And now, May’s going to die because he was selfless? He just couldn’t think straight. Who would be able to, in his shoes? He shook his head, the tears already flowing. Peter moved his hand toward the blood bag to cure her. 

“ _I don’t know what to do…_ ”

“Yes, you do,” May coughed. She held his hand, stopping him. Peter stood up, holding the blood bag beside her. He was so close to saving her but his body wouldn’t allow it. His hands were shaking. His throat tightened even more. 

Peter shut his eyes. He sniffled violently. He looked at May one last time, and broke down. He stopped himself. Deep down, he _knew_ he had to do it. May wouldn’t have liked it, if he chose to save her instead of almost the entire city. He knew that, because he’d known her for almost all his life. He placed the antiserum down by the drawer beside her and knelt, breaking down silently beside her.

The dreaded prolonged beep came. Spider bites don’t make heroes. They just grant you the power you could possibly imagine. Great role models do, however. Parents who care. 

_They do it all the time._

~~~ 

The past two days have been rough. Especially for Peter. Even if they were giving out the Devil’s Breath vaccine to the city for free, it felt gloomy. Everything was quiet, as if the Gods themselves were unhappy. It was also quiet in the tent Kris, Ivy, and Dr. Michaels were stationed at, administering the cure, aside from the occasional “Sign your name here”, or “Hold still”.

That day was also very quiet, because they’ve finished up the last of the Devil’s Breath virus. That meant one thing. May’s Funeral. It didn’t help that rain also poured violently upon them. Kris took a step and patted Peter’s shoulder, and MJ took his hand.

~~~

Three months later. Peter was sitting at a restaurant, eating fries whilst looking at his laptop. The sound of a bell rang in his ears, and he looked up. MJ had just gotten in. “So?”

MJ held out a hand. Peter took it and they both shook hands.“Hi. Mary Jane Watson, Associate Editor.”

Peter was happy for her. He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Congrats!”

“Thank you,” MJ laughed.

“I knew you could do it.” Peter sat down, MJ did the same.

“What about you? Find a job yet?” MJ took a chunk of fries. Peter closed his laptop lid and moved it aside. 

“Oh, no, but I was actually considering… maybe a career change. Kris’ doing the same.” MJ propped her head up. Peter relaxed his posture, leaning back on the chair. “Yeah, I think I might wanna become a chef.”

MJ choked on her fries, chuckling a little bit. Peter leaned forward and patted her back, trying to get her to stop choking. “I’m sorry. No, it’s—you’re a scientist. A good one.”

“The last project we worked on, we created a monster octopus that almost destroyed the city, so…”

“Yeah.” MJ’s face changed from sadness to looking-on-the-bright-side. “I mean—you do make a hell of a chicken curry. Even Kris said so.”

“I do.” The two shared a laugh. “Still working on my dumplings, though.” Peter referenced the time he tried to cook dumplings in MJ’s old apartment. (It literally burnt down the apartment complex and her neighbors would get worried whenever they see Peter around.)

MJ noticed Peter’s large bag. “Going camping?”

Peter looked at it. “Oh. My new place isn’t going to be ready for about a week, so I’m crashing with Kris for the next few nights.”

“Oh. You know, you can always… stay at my place.” Peter raised an eyebrow jokingly. “Only if you want to,” She quickly added.

“No. I mean yes! I mean, no I don’t not want to, meaning I do want to, but… Only if you do,” he stuttered.

MJ leaned closer. “I never stopped wanting to,” She smiled.

Peter smiled back. “Me neither.”

The two leaned in closer and kissed.


	48. Hold Onto Your Web-Shooters! / On My Own

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One year later, Kris and Peter teamed up to escort the convoy that was transporting Rhino to the Raft.

A few months later, in December… 

Kris looked up from his phone in the train. It was his stop, but he was gonna let the others go out first. He nodded his head at the alighting passengers before alighting himself, stepping out to the station and on the steps. He figured he might stop by the nearest convenience store before heading back home. He wore his headphones as he took the final step out of the station, looked around with a small smile blossoming on his face, and stopped by the road.

He continued his route as soon as the bus passed by as he strolled onto the other side of the road. Campaign flyers, voting for Ivy Blair. Still not used to seeing his cousin’s last names. He waved at the people organising the tent and spotted a man struggling to lift a couch onto the moving van. Kris decided to step in and lifted the couch. The man nodded and said, “Thanks, kid.”

“No prob.” Kris continued walking and stopped to see a Spider-Man mural being painted. He removed his headphones. “That is so cool!”

Hailey, a neighbor he met a few weeks ago, stepped up the ladders and passed the mural painter a bucket of paint. “I got you.” Kris jogged over to the other paint bucket and passed it to him.

“Hey, thanks.”

“No problem.” Kris stepped back, getting a full view of the mural. “Hey, uh, you gonna add that Kid-Arachnid, too?”

“The kid? Yeah. Maybe. Original’s just… my guy, you know?”

Kris shrugged. “Yeah, I know. Beautiful work, by the way. Maybe leave some space for the new guy—just in case,” he said. He stopped at Teo’s Bodega, only to receive a text from Peter.

“Convoy…” he whispered. He glanced at the bodega, then back at his phone. With a smirk, he began running to the nearest alleyway.

~~~

Kris vaulted over a building and continued running on the rooftops. A train pulled up right in front of him, just in time for him to swing to the train, and run across it. He used the momentum he gained from the train to swing off, passing a Roxxon billboard, and he launched himself off of a streetlight. “Woooohoooo! Let’s _GO!_ ”

He dove in and began swinging. He decided to ring Peter. “Hey, Peter—headed your way! Did I miss the convoy?”

“ _Not yet—they’re still securing a couple inmates._ ”

Kris launched himself off of the ledge of another building. “Bet it feels good to see the guys who escaped last year go back to the Raft, right? I know I do!”

“ _Real good,_ ” Peter said. “ _Raft’s an eyesore, but it’s secure. As long as the octopus related flaws have been fixed..._ ”

“Let’s hope. Okay—closing in on the Colexco building. Be there soon!” Kris ran up a building and shot a web, pulling him higher toward the wall of the building. He jumped off near the edge of the building’s height and webbed himself to the metal tower of the building. “Pete—you here?”

“Just downin’ some rocket fuel.” Peter entered Kris’ field of vision, holding a cup of coffee, upside down. He took a sip.

“Seriously—I gotta learn how you do those!”

“Just do it very, very carefully.” From the corner of his eye, Peter spotted the convoy fly past them. “Okay—go time.” Peter dropped the cup and shot a web at it to direct its fall into a trash can.

“This is… a big operation,” Kris mentioned as the two of them swung together.

“You bet it is—hundreds of felons escaped from the Raft last year. Now, it’s time to move ‘em back in. Police aren’t taking any chances. ‘Specially not with our guest of honor.” The two of them zipped closer, but managed to slow down their swinging.

“You mean to tell me that one of the Six is in _there?_ Minus the Doc, obviously.” Kris pointed at the convoy the plane carried.

“Judging by the size, definitely. Could be Vulture, could be Scorpion… could be…” The convoy moved on its own. “...someone bigger…” the rope that secured the convoy snapped, thinning the chances of the transport being successful. “Okay, we got a problem. Hold back, Kris, let me ta—”

“I got this, Peter, don’t worry,” Kris said, confident that he could save the chopper.

“Kris, no—!”

Kris swung ahead and stuck to the side of the convoy. He webbed the ropes, thickening it and making the convoy less dangerous. “It’s secure—!” Before he knew it, the random knock against the wall of the convoy had caused Kris to stumble backward, snapping the ropes on the left side. 

“ _Kris!_ ” The webbing that Kris shot had made him swing around until the webbing got caught in the propeller. He was headed toward the fast blades. Kris let go and shot a web, but he feared it would be too late for it to hit a building. And even if it did, he would most likely still hit the blades. 

Good thing Peter was there, because he caught him before the blades did and threw him into a nearby wall. The both of them stuck to the wall and shot webs at the falling helicopter. The webbing snapped, and it crashed onto the road. The both of them dropped down. “Peter—I’m sorry, dude, I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s okay. We got this. Just need to contain it, before—” A moving convoy interrupted them. The both of them slowly turned around, fearing what was about to go down. The door busted open, and two blue lights resembling eyes showed itself in the darkness. “Before _that_ happens…”

From out of the darkness of the convoy, Rhino stepped out, his hands still kept together. 

“Hello, tiny spiders.”

Rhino grinned at the two before he smacked his hands against the convoy, destroying the cage that imprisoned his hands. Kris and Peter got into a stance as Rhino roared loudly, smashing his fists into the ground and charging at them. Peter shot a web, pulling himself over the bulldozer as he smashed through the trucks and cars. “Kid-Arachnid—I’ve got Rhino. But you have to contain the escapees!”

“Right. Contain. Got it, Spidey. Snow problem.” Kris cracked his knuckles and zipped to an escapee, sliding under their legs, and uppercutting. 

~~~

“Kri—Kid-Arachnid—gonna need a hand up here. You free?” Peter shouted over the call. Kris turned around and spotted Rhino breaking through the bank. “Your holiday spirit’s a little overzealous this year, Aleksei!”

Rhino began running at a civilian who was taking a selfie. Peter leapt off of Rhino, then webbed the civilian to safety. Rhino instead smashed a car. Kris glanced at the scene, then back at the escapees that were escaping with a car. “Man—!”

Instead, Kris decided to run after Rhino. 

~~~

Rhino leapt from the ground, and broke through a building. Kris zipped through. “Oh, hey, sorry, happy holidays!” Kris dodged a sign that Rhino threw at him. “Pete—hey—how we doing on a scale of one to ten?”

“Ten for generating spectacle, one for minimizing destruction.” Peter directed Rhino with his webs and turned a right. “Tomorrow’s Bugle headline’s gonna be a doozy!”

“Worst thing out of this is a bad headline—I’mma count us lucky!” Kris noticed Rhino running through the Washington Square Park. “Oh, fudge, fudge, the Winter Bash!” 

Rhino smashed his way through the stage and leapt, throwing another sign at Kris. “Mind giving me a hand up here?”

“Yeah! Yeah, I got this!”

“Take it away, cowpoke!” Peter leapt to a car as Kris webbed Rhino’s back. Peter began swinging behind them. Kris hit the ground and his back slid through the road. Luckily it was ice, so he didn’t burn himself. 

By the time he got onto Rhino’s back, Rhino had already leapt into the mall carpark. “No, no, wait—not the mall!”

“Hang on tight, tiny spider!” Rhino said it like he was gonna be a fun roller coaster ride. He broke through a pillar and turned to his left, dropping onto the lower floor and destroying the sculptures on the way. Peter, on the other hand, was saving civilians left and right. Kris was impressed by how fast he was able to save them.

“Do you have any non-destructive hobbies?!” Kris asked as Rhino leapt through the main area of the mall and swung to the top floor using the sculpture that hung in the middle.

“Fly fishing on the Volga.” Rhino smashed into a jewelry store and continued running. Kris webbed himself back onto his back.

“That sounds… nice…!”

“The power over life and death… excites me.”

Kris spotted a baby and zipped to it before Rhino could and placed the stroller onto a safer area. “Less nice hobby, and you’re welcome ma’am!” He webbed Rhino and pulled, punching his jaw and crashing through the floor. “Don’t! Scare! Babies!”

He kicked him through the floor. Rhino got up quickly and continued running. “You know you’re ruining Christmas, right?!” Peter webbed more civilians to safety and pulled the Christmas Train upward.

“The last six Christmases I was locked behind thirty feet of steel. I intend to _enjoy_ this one!” Rhino leapt again, crashing through the castle in the mall.

~~~

“He’s a MENACE! Eh, too soft… he’s a LOW ENERGY MENACE! Too easy… he’s a WEAK MINDED—”

Rhino crashed through the production of Just the Facts with J. Jonah Jameson. “Hey, Jonah! Lookin’ good, Sandy Claus!”

“Very festive!” Peter commented as he swung by. 

“MENACE! A FECKLESS, TREACHEROUS, UNHINGED MENACE!”

Kris let go of the webbing and Peter took the lead. He webbed the buildings and followed. Rhino crashed through another building, and Kris dodged another sign. “Now or never, Kid-Arachnid—we gotta stop him!” With one big swing, Kris let go of the webbing and landed by Peter. “We gotta bring him down, fast!”

“Yeah! Yeah, what do we do?” 

Before Peter could speak, Rhino interrupted. “Let us raise temperature,” he said. He began roaring as he accelerated. He was planning to crash into the flammable gas tank.

“Bad, bad, very bad—!” Kris and Peter shot webs to try and slow him down, but the car Kris webbed moved along, and the fire hydrant Peter webbed broke off.

Rhino broke through the fence and crashed into the gas tank. Kris was sent flying into the industrial chimney, leaving a huge dent on the metal. He slid down, but he gripped on with his stickiness. He placed two fingers at his ear. “Peter, you okay?”

He didn’t answer. What _did_ answer was a Rhino crashing through the factory and leaving a trail of gas which lit up behind him. The sudden explosion had caused a power outage that was probably city-wide. “Oh my goodness—”

“ _I’m okay. I’ve got him. Headed your way—be ready._ ”

“Yeah… I might need a minute.” Kris leapt off the chimney and swung in, kicking an escapee and landing. He looked up to see an escapee wielding an RPG aiming at him. He narrowly dodged the rocket and began fighting more escapees.

While doing so, Rhino crashed through the fight and jumped into another side of the factory.

~~~

With a mighty leap, Kris landed on the second platform which acted as a bridge of sorts. He dodged a Rhino that threw Peter to the ground and threw him into the fire, but that caused him to fall off the bridge. He webbed himself back up quickly and dealt with the escapees. 

After dealing with the escapees, Kris leapt onto a certain area with many electric generators. His skull buzzed, and he flipped out of the way. Peter flew across, crashing into the generators. He ran to him, moving his shoulder. “Pete? Pete! Wake up, wake up, wake up, come on, dude, dude, dude, there’s a freaking Rhino on our hands!”

“This Spider-Man is broken. I would like to exchange for new one.” Rhino tilted his head. “Ah. Kid-Arachnid. This one will do.”

Rhino smashed his fists into the ground. Kris readied himself into a stance. “Kris… get out of here…!”

“Dude… Back. The heck…” Rhino started charging at him. Strangely enough, a weird buzzing sensation surged through his fists. He didn’t even notice the yellow glow of it. “ _OFF!_ ” He jumped at Rhino and clocked him in the jaw, slamming him to the ground. Kris glanced at his hands to see yellow electricity sparking around his hands. 

“What was that…?” He thought of the second spider that bit him last December. It was probably the source of these new powers, but why was he discovering them _now?_

It definitely felt slightly draining, so he should definitely save it. “Okay, Rhino, how ‘bout a good ol’ fashioned fisticuffs fight?” Kris felt the bioelectricity surge through his fists as he punched Rhino. The next few punches were surprisingly not affected by the bioelectricity. Perks of having those, he supposed. 

Rhino approached a large crate and threw it at Kris. Kris got hit by it, but returned with another punch of bioelectricity. It angered Rhino, and he grabbed him and slammed him to the ground. The force of how he was slammed to the ground made him go upward, and Rhino kicked him to a wall. Kris couldn’t move in time, and Rhino charged at him with full force, breaking through the wall. 

“You destroyed half the city! Don’t you care?” Kris dodged another crate. Rhino charged at him, and he flipped over him. He webbed Rhino’s back and directed him into an electric box. Rhino smacked him to the ground and tried to push him further into the ground, but Kris kicked the fist off and zipped to his face, punching his jaw. “You know, chasing you through the city kinda felt like a wild, uh, what’s the word? Wild GOOSE chase!”

“Wild… goose? No. _NO! **I HATE CHASE OF GOOSE!**_ ” Kris used that momentary distraction to punch him, sending him into a wall. Rhino threw a crate at him, but Kris dodged it, and used his bioelectricity to deliver the finishing blow, blasting him through the wall and back outside.

Kris stepped out of the building and shook his hands. It definitely felt like the numb buzz feeling he would get occasionally. He jogged up to Peter and shook him. “You alive?”

“Kinda,” Peter responded. Kris helped him up, and just as they were leaving, a truck full of Roxxon agents pulled up, checking the scene.

A blonde man stepped out of the car. “Guys. Wow. Just wow.” He pointed at the fallen Rhino, chuckling a little. He shook Peter’s hand. “Simon Krieger. Head of R&D at Roxxon Energy. Pleasure to meet you.”

“You too. Sorry—think our ball landed in your yard.” Peter glanced at Rhino, whose suit was malfunctioning.

“No, you actually did us a favor. We, uh, just bought the place. We’re planning to tear it down for a build, but, uh, looks like you beat us to it.” Krieger gripped Kris’ arm. “I wanted to thank you. Both of you. Taking down Rhino… _solo?_ You’re opening up more doors of opportunities, bud.”

“I mean, I’ve done it before, but he’s still dangerous.” Kris glanced at Peter, remembering the first time he met Peter on top of a building right after his debut as Kid-Arachnid. And to think, that his first fight with a villain was none other than Rhino himself.

“Nah, we’ll hold him for the police. You know, I always think these super troopers are overkill until… something like this happens. Oh, but duty calls! Really great meeting you both—future’s lookin’ bright.”

Peter turned to Kris. “He’s right… let’s clear out and let the police do their job.”

“Yeah… yeah, okay.”

~~~

“Bioelectricity. Wow. Gotta be honest; little jealous,” Peter commented as the two of them finished eating their pizza on the rooftops, sans masks.

“Hey, look, I’ve got nothing on the OG,” Kris said as he put away the pizza box. “Think we should run a test tomorrow? Little voltage analysis?”

Peter didn’t look as enthusiastic as earlier. “Oh… Man. Yeah. Sorry. I’ve been meaning to tell you: I’m not gonna be around here for the next few weeks.”

Kris was almost convinced this was a joke. He dusted his hands. “This some kind of Pete joke I don’t get?”

“No. MJ’s headed overseas for the Bugle and requested me as her photographer. Kind of a working vacation for us.”

Kris laid back, his hands behind his head. “I don’t know if I should even fly solo again. I’ve screwed up so many times—I even screwed up big time with the helicopter.”

“But then you _delivered_ big time.” Peter placed a hand on his shoulder. “You saved my bacon, Kris!” 

“I got lucky…”

“Hey—I did this gig for nine years without backup, aside from the occasional back up from the Avengers when it came to handling the villains. Better believe I’ve screwed up lots of times…” Peter webbed a package into his hands, holding it out for Kris to take. “But that’s how you learn.”

“What’s this?” Kris asked, sitting upright and taking it. He inspected it by twisting it around both of his hands.

“Christmas present. But first, you’ve gotta take the oath.” Kris raised his hand, doing the gesture they normally do when shooting webs. 

“Oh, um… okay.” Kris did the same.

“I promise to do everything in my power to protect this city,” Peter said.

“I promise.”

“That’s it.” 

After that, Kris playfully punched Peter’s shoulder. “That oath a real thing?” 

Peter shook his head, disagreeing with what Kris had said. “Totally. Definitely didn’t just make it up.” He stood up with his mask in hand. “See you in a few weeks, Spider-Man.” Peter put on his mask and did the finger guns. “New York’s ONLY Spider-Man.”

Peter swung off, and Kris watched. He didn’t fully register it until just a few seconds later. “I’m… Spider-Man.” Kris stood up and put on his mask. “I’m Spider-Man…!” he repeated, with more enthusiasm. 

Kris happily flipped off the building, and with one swing, he flipped onto an industrial chimney, blowing off all the snow on it when he landed.


	49. Parting Gift / We're Here For You / Christmas Eve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris opened the gift that Peter had given him and found out it was new gadgets. Claude suggested to test it at Roxxon Plaza, which he didn't test them at all. Now, he just had a Christmas Dinner he wanted to go to.

Kris flipped off of the chimney and decided to call Claude. “Sup, Claude!”

“ _Dude! Rhino?! **WHAT?!**_ ” 

“Yeah,” Kris said. “Where you at? Got into the apartment okay?”

“ _Yep. Nicolette let me in. Unpacked-slash-dumped my stuff all over your floor. Now, I’m in the park ‘nd grabbing some air._ ”

“Oh, perfect! Dip over to the amphitheatre. Got somethin’ to show you!” Kris flipped through the sky.

“ _Dude, is this spider-related? *Please* tell me you’ve got a piece of Rhino’s horn or something. Pics I’ve seen of the fight are straight up *nuts*!_ ”

“Ha. Definitely spider-related, and _definitely_ better than a horn!”

“ _Oh, loving the suspense! See you in a bit._ ”

~~~

Claude was waiting around in the Central Park amphitheatre, his yellow jacket visible in the white mist of the snowy night. Kris threw the package and webbed it to the wall of the amphitheatre, and then followed it. “Dude, check it! Christmas present from Spider-Man!”

“Let’s see it, then!” Claude climbed up on the stage. Kris dropped down and ripped open the Daily Bugle packaging to reveal an array of gadgets. “Dude… you gotta test ‘em out!”

“Best part? The web-shooters can copy ‘em! Peter showed me this one gadget, and he copied it to his own!” Kris grabbed a small drone. “Thing is, they probably need, like, an activation system of sorts.” 

“Oh—good time to test these out? Roxxon Plaza. Heard some suspicious activity there,” Claude said. “And that bioelectricity you have? Should probably give you a name… ooh, Venom Strike’s good.”

“Great! See you at the Christmas Dinner!” Kris flipped onto the wall and leapt off of it, swinging toward Roxxon Plaza. 

“Remember! Venom! It’s gold!”

~~~

Kris dropped onto the scene. It seemed empty. Quiet. The only thing that seemed interesting was the weird dome-like structure in front of him. A sudden video played on the giant screen, and that frightened Kris. 

“Hi there! I’m Simon Krieger. And what you’re standing next to is a Nuform reactor. Once activated, this reactor will supply enough energy to power all of Harlem.” Kris glanced at the dome. “Now, I’m sure you’re thinking: “Simon, how is that possible?” And the answer… is Nuform. Just one canister of this revolutionary fuel source is enough to supply Harlem with clean, safe energy for the next five hundred years. Soon, we’ll be opening reactors throughout Manhattan, and then, worldwide. Get ready for a planet powered by Nuform. Roxxon: We’re here for you.”

A few seconds after the infomercial finished, broken glass could be heard. Kris instinctively webbed himself to where the sound was. A full rectangular window was broken. He zipped through it and looked around. “Okay… creepy dark lab. Very nice, very nice…”

Kris cautiously approached the monitor that seemed to be turned on. “Huh… thieves’re doing a search for Nuform. What are they gonna do with—?” Before he could even think, a person with a gauntlet of sorts grabbed him by the throat and jumped out of the window. He looked up to see a bunch of people gathering from the shadows, with different kinds of technology, ranging from gauntlets, to masks, to guns that can materialize out of thin air.

Kris pulled back his fist and punched the one with the gauntlets. “Their tech’s cool! And Venom Strike destroys it! Uh… actually, yeah. Claude’s right. Venom Strike’s a good name.”

~~~

“Don’t fail the Tinkerer!”

““The Tinkerer”? Who’s that?” Kris kicked the second last person into the last, and webbed the both of them up. “I’m sorry—that’s, like, having a super villain called “The Killer”!” He leapt onto the wall and grabbed a mask from one of the thugs. “So how did jerks like you did tech like this? Again?”

He sighed, too impatient for an answer. He figured that the gadgets should be better to save for later. All he wanted to do now was to just go home and enjoy that Christmas Dinner. “Okay. Um, Christmas Dinner after I check what you guys found to see what you’re hitting next.” 

Kris headed toward the wall of hologram, which seemed to be the map of Manhattan. “They’re tracking Nuform shipments… but why…? Eh, got a Christmas Dinner to go to.” 

Kris leapt out of the room and swung to his house, which was surprisingly not so far. He zipped to the pole where he secured his backpack and took it, slinging it around his shoulders. “Too cold to change out here…” 

Kris dropped down the fire escape and into the level of where his house was. 

He quietly slid the window open to his new apartment. It still definitely felt like his aunt’s and dad’s childhood home, and not theirs, even after spending one year here. He looked around, and hopped in. Knowing that it’s a Christmas Dinner, he knew that there were bound to be guests coming in. He placed his bag down and slid the window back into place before grabbing a dress shirt and sweater vest that laid on his bed. He stopped to notice Claude’s sleeping bag.

Right. He forgot that he invited Claude to stay for a couple of weeks. But, at least there’s gonna be a lot of ideas they can think of for gadgets. He checked his notebook, looked around, and quietly closed it. It’s definitely a possibility that he could be a fan and draw a lot of ideas for a suit, but he couldn’t take any chances. Especially with how in-depth he was with his suit ideas. 

Kris spun on his heel and picked up his old Middle School graduation photo. He was glad Nicolette found it when they were clearing the house, because he couldn’t find it, and was desperately searching for it for years, after it dropped behind his dresser without his knowledge. It had him, Rebekka, and Lyte in it. He hadn’t seen them in a long time, since they changed schools. Kris went to Midtown, and the other two went to Brooklyn Visions. The reasons being that they won scholarships to the said schools, and their parents—or in Kris’ case, grandfather and aunt—encouraged them to go. He took out his old keyboard and blew off the dust, coughing a little in the process. 

“I should definitely get back into music when I have the time,” he muttered. Kris twisted the doorknob and entered the hallway of the apartment.

“Guava sauce is… actually great!” Abby happily said, but the second she turned around, she accidentally dropped it.

“What was that?” Nicolette asked.

“N-nothing! All good! Just a little spill—gonna get it cleaned up _real_ quick. All good!” Abby took a large step to avoid the spillage and then began trodding to her room, her chin resting between her thumb and index finger. 

“Oh, God…” Nicolette almost sounded devastated when she noticed the large spill. Her face brightened when she saw Kris walk in with his new attire. “Aw, you actually wore the clothes that I bought for you!”

“Well—didn’t really want to leave it to collect dust,” Kris said. “And also maybe because you have great taste in fashion…” 

“Oh—how about you help set up the apartment? Ivy and Isabelle are still buying groceries, Claude’s on a last-minute christmas decoration buying spree, and Abby’s still—well, distraught about the spillage,” Marilynn chuckled, near the end of her sentence. “Could you help with that, by the way?”

“On it.” Kris breathed in and relaxed, studying his surroundings. “Let’s make this feel like a Christmas Dinner.” 

He started off by turning on the Christmas Tree. “Glad Gramps’ tree survived the move.”

“Me too. He loved that little guy.” 

“‘Ain’t no Christmas like a Branford Christmas’. Miss hearing him say that.” Kris turned to look at the kitchen. He headed toward the fridge and opened it, but Marilynn spotted him.

“Hey, wait until dinner time, please.”

Kris closed the fridge and placed his hands behind his back. “Yes, ma’am.” He trodded toward the old record player, and saw that there were no records to be seen. “Hey, so, um, are there any records that we have?”

“Should be in Issy’s room,” Nicolette responded, not looking away from the food she was cooking.

Kris headed back into the hallway, and could hear Abby say, “Clean… guava… carpet…”

He had to keep himself from laughing, or else it would probably echo through the hallway. And it’s not what people in Harlem need for their Christmas Eve. He headed to Isabelle’s room and looked through the vinyls that were stacked neatly in a pile. Kris pulled out a folder. 

““Mariah Carey All I Want For Christmas”? Nope. Too overused, in my opinion… let’s see… um… ooh. Gramps put this on every Sunday… Ohh—smooth jazz from granny. Gramps and Aunt would _move_ when this played. Okay, last one… think this was my dad’s. Gramps never played it, but he also never got rid of it.”

Kris chuckled softly as he grabbed the jazz vinyl. Definitely what his cousins would probably want. For old times’ sake. As he walked past the bathroom, he could hear Abby crouched over on the sink, listing down the bleach. “Bleached borax… borax with bleach… boraxed bleach. Hey—Mari? Do we have any regular “bleach” bleach?”

“You sure bleach’s a good idea?” Kris asked. 

“Yeah. For sure…” Abby responded. “Why?”

“No reason, no reason.” Kris shook his head as he sauntered over to the old record player. 

“What’s the pick, DJ?”

“The greatest record ever…” Kris whipped out the record, placed the sleeve beside the player, and placed the needle on the vinyl, and smooth jazz started to play. 

“Will you be dancing for us this evening?” Nicolette jokingly asked. “Dinner and a show?”

“Ha… _no._ ”

The doorbell rang, but it sounded very distorted. Kris headed toward the door, knowing full well at least one of the girls in this house would ask him to go to the door. He opened it, only to find Lysithea. “Oh! Hey, Lysithea.” the two hugged it out. From the corner of his eye, he saw a plant of sorts slink down.

“Hey! You two should kiss!” Claude happily shouted.

“Hey—Claude, come on, buddy, you gotta announce it to the whole block?” They quickly pulled away from each other, awkward from the sudden shout.

“C’mon, you’re under a mistletoe! You know the rules, and so do I!”

Kris and Lysithea sighed collectively. They inched closer to each other and awkwardly exchanged quick pecks on each other’s cheeks. Claude stepped down from the ladder and the two bro-hugged. Kris gestured them to come in, and the two nodded at him before stepping inside.

As Kris took another step, the doorbell rang again. He opened the door and saw a familiar-looking girl standing by the door. His face brightened almost immediately. “ _Lyte?_ ”

“Hey.” She gestured toward the doorbell, chuckling. “Fixed your doorbell.”

“It’s so good to see you!” Kris could feel Lysithea’s disdained stare as the two shared a hug. “How are you, it’s been like—”

“Years.” She finished for him. Kris closed the door. “A lot’s changed.”

“It really has,” Kris said. “You’ve aged up by five years, and I’m mad.”

“Is that our guest of honour?” Nicolette asked, poking her head from the kitchen. “Come on in, you two. Dinner’s almost ready. Lyte.” Nicolette took a few more steps and the two hugged. “I’m so glad you could make it.”

“Thanks for inviting me, Nicole.”

“We missed you—well, this one, especially.”

“Uh, hi.”

“Oh—this is Claude, my other best friend, you probably met in Midtown. Claude, this is Lyte.” Kris awkwardly turned to Lysithea, who was practically radiating jealousy. He could almost smell it. Almost. “This is Lysithea, my, um, girlfriend—”

“Wait, what?” Lyte interjected.

“Um… my _girlfriend?_ ”

“The baby is already a couple _way_ before me. What am _I_ doing?”

“Hey—you promised you wouldn’t do that when we reunited!” Kris whined.

“Too bad, it works perfectly because of the five year age gap, now, Kris.” He groaned at the sentence.

“‘Kris’, huh? You guys on a nickname basis?” Lysithea asked.

Kris almost instantly felt the buckets of sweat rising. “Well—I mean—I guess? Maybe? We _were_ friends in middle school…”

“Hey, speaking of middle schools, you guys also did the science fair project that got into the Science Museum, right?” Claude asked. “With Rebekka, and stuff. You made, a, um… uh…”

“Energy converter,” The both said at almost the exact same time. “Jinx!”

The second they said ‘jinx’, the lights started to flicker off. “Us and our big mouths. I’ll go check the circuit breaker.”

“Okay, I swear I didn’t break it when I fixed your doorbell.” 

Kris headed toward the circuit breaker that was built into the wall at the end of the corridor. Maybe with a little bioelectricity, it could work. He opened the breaker and tried to flick the rocker buttons. “No good. Breaker doesn’t have power.”

“I’ll check if I can see anything from the fire escape.” Kris slid open the window, and was blasted with the cold winter breeze. It almost dried his eyes in the instant he opened his window. He had to blink repeatedly as he exited through the window and leapt to the wall. He began crawling, trying his best to avoid windows. He peeked his head to the roof, and saw people. Definitely not a good idea to do so. Kris crawled around, following the circuit breaker to the generator. 

“Bioelectricity can stop Rhino… but can it save Christmas Dinner?” Kris felt the bioelectricity surge through his fist as he forced it into the generator. “Still gotta get used to the numb feeling. I _hate_ the buzzing!”

Like he expected, the generator turned on. The problem was that the lights were too bright. He didn’t think this through at all. With the electricity restored, he headed back to the living room window. Turned out that while he was restoring the electricity, Ivy and Isabelle had already returned home. 

“Is Kristian still outside—?” Ivy asked. She turned to the window and saw him on the outside looking in, softly tapping on the glass and waving through the window. “Oh. Uh, Claude, how about you tell us about your parents—are they having fun in Hawaii?”

“Before I left for last-minute christmas deco shopping, they called at the top of Haleakalã, so I’d say they’re doing okay—I didn’t wanna miss christmas in New York!”

“You can’t; it’s the best time of year!” Marilynn agreed.

“That’s what I said!” Claude happily added.

He clambered onto the ceiling of the living room and pressed his foot against the window, sliding it back into place. The others suddenly grabbed hold of the situation the second they saw him crawling around in the ceiling from the corners of their eyes. Kris dropped to the ground, opened the door, and closed it again. Only for the fact that Lyte didn’t know. If she did, he’d be able to just casually climb back in. He placed his hands behind his back, trying to look as innocent as possible. 

“Uh… who’s ready to eat?” he asked. He headed toward the kitchen and grabbed the honey glazed ham and set it onto the table. “You guys sit down; I got this.”

Claude headed to the record player and played “Everybody Needs Somebody To Love” by Solomon Burke. Determined to prove that he wasn’t a child anymore that didn’t like his greens at all, Kris forced himself to eat the salad, suppressing the urge to vomit and shivering. “Aw, is the wittle baby sad about eating his gweens?”

Kris grabbed the corner of the chair and pushed it a little. 

~~~

Ivy glanced at the Roxxon Plaza building, and closed the curtain. She sighed, sitting back down. “Lyte, tell us everything you’ve been up to. You still in robotics club?”

“I had to quit, but I’ve been studying biotech on my own.”

Kris chuckled a little. “Nerd.”

“Says the guy who wore an ascot to middle school graduation _and_ worked for Tony Stark,” Lyte said.

“Hey—it was _my_ suggestion.” Nicolette looked offended by Lyte’s comment.

Isabelle turned to Lyte. “Do you and Rebekka still work at Roxxon?”

Lyte looked like an arrow of sadness pierced her. She shook her head, a small smile slowly blooming. “I don’t know how anyone could work there after your last campaign ad. Ivy went for Simon Krieger’s _fucking_ jugular!”

“ _Language!_ ” Kris shouted.

“Oh, _you’re_ saying language?” Lyte looked amused, and Kris immediately caught wind of the situation. Claude and Lysithea looked confused. “He didn’t tell you? This kid had the second most dirtiest goddamn mouth of our friend group!”

“Hey—that was middle school!” he buried his face on his hands. “Dangit, Lyte, I’m trying to make a change…”

“Okay, but moving the subject back to Roxxon, that reminds me—” Ivy turned to Claude. “Claude. You have a certain flair for social media. Could you spread the word about tomorrow’s rally?” 

Claude nodded. “Yeah! We’ll be trending by midnight.”

Ivy sighed. “Sometimes it feels like Simon Krieger’s my real opponent. Roxxon has so much influence here, but they don’t answer to anyone except their shareholders. Harlem needs someone to fight for the community.”

“That’s Ivy’s campaign speech voice if you couldn’t tell.” Kris glanced at Lysithea and Lyte. Lyte nodded awkwardly, and Lysithea still had her arms crossed. She blew at her bangs with her mouth and darted her eyes away.

“Uh, you wanna proofread these before I post ‘em?” 

Ivy quickly stood up so fast, the chair she previously sat on almost fell over. “Yes! Do _not_ hit send—!”

“Food’s nice, but I’ve gotta go,” Lyte said.

“Oh. Okay. Bye.”

~~~

Lysithea sat on the ledge of his bedroom window, while Kris sat on the stairs of the fire escape. “So, what’s going on with you?” Kris asked.

“What do you mean?” Lysithea responded with another question, her mood strangely more vibrant compared to earlier.

“You seemed… I don’t know—” Kris quickly changed the direction of his sentence the second he looked at Lysithea. “—Okay, okay, I get why, but, like… she’s my friend, and stuff, and can we just change the subject…?”

“Okay.” Lysithea inhaled the cold air deeply. She exhaled, closing her eyes. “So. How’s Harlem after spending a year in it?”

“It’s fine.” Kris sighed.

Lysithea groaned. “You hate it.” Kris swiftly shook his head. “That’s your I-hate-it-but-I’m-too-nice-to-say-it voice.”

“No, it’s…” Kris glanced at the moon above. “I don’t know anybody here, and I’m always asking for directions. And before you say I’ve been doing the Kid-Arachnid gig for, like, three years, it’s because I’m barely close to the ground during those times.”

“Well, maybe you need to find a good restaurant. Claude always suggested Pana Fuerte, so maybe just go there. Heck, maybe even go to a library or whatnot, and you could settle in.”

“I guess that’d work. Anyway, I’ve got a full day of Spider-Manning, so I should probably get to sleep early.”

Lysithea furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “ _Spider-Manning?_ ”

“Yeah. Peter _actually_ allowed me to be the Spider-Man while he was away!” Kris happily said as he crawled through the window.

“Okay, goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”


	50. Friendly Neighborhood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claude designed a new app for Kris to work with overnight. He decided to test it out by helping out a person.

The next day, Kris was in bed on an afternoon. Claude was typing away at his keyboard, then randomly paused. “Kris?”

“What.”

“You awake?”

“No.”

Claude got out of the chair. “So, I stayed up the whole night last night and designed an app for your suit. Thing’s got a crazy custom OS. Nothing I’ve ever seen before, but I ran it through a disassembler and reverse-engineered the plugin architecture, and…” He stopped. Kris was clearly still motionless on the bed. He sighed. “You just—fell asleep again, didn’t you?” A few beats passed. “ _Kris!_ ”

“I’m up! I’m up!” Kris blurted out, sitting upright. 

~~~

“It’s almost done compiling!” Claude said. 

Kris paced around the room, then stopped. A question surfaced in his thoughts. “Wait—how’d you do all this, anyway? Like, you’re suddenly into _coding?_ ”

“Oh, I’ve sorta, kinda, got into coding when you had me check the location of where your phone was, and everything…” Claude pressed enter on his keyboard and breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.” He got out of the chair and turned to Kris. “Ready to try out the app?”

“Alright, let’s do it,” Kris said, dusting his hands and hopping a little on the spot. 

“Connecting to your analytics, and… alright, let’s test drive this!” Claude enthusiastically jogged to the door and slid the window open, running back to the computer. Kris glanced at the screen, and it seemed to be his point of view. He turned back to the window and dove out, wall running and zipping through a water tower. “ _I can see everything you see—and how are you not puking all the time?_ ”

“Lots of practice!” Kris dropped to a ledge of a building and crouched, looking at his phone. “Hey, wait, don’t I need to download the app or sum’n?”

“ _Downloaded it on your phone while you were asleep,_ ” Claude answered. “ _Okay—so, welcome to the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-App. Or Spider-Man App. FNSM, for short, basically. Even Peter could get requests here if he had his suit connected to the app and stuff. Oh, and look! Someone’s made a request! Request came from… “Bradley Cooper”… like the actor?_ ”

“Who knows. Prob’ly just a guy with the same name.” 

~~~

With one last swing, Kris dove onto the roof of where Bradley seemed to be located. He hung upside down with his feet stuck to the overhang. “Uh—hey there. Needed help? I’m, uh, taking over the mantle of Spider-Man for the other Spider-Man.”

The man turned to him. He seemed… familiar. Like an old face he hadn’t seen for a long time, but he couldn’t tell. Especially his eyes. It almost reminded him of his grandfather. But a much younger version of him, with black hair, instead of completely white. “Yeah, I know. Bradley Cooper.” 

Kris furrowed his brows, still not over the name. “I’m sorry, but, like, the actor?”

“Get that a lot.” He shrugged. He turned to the screen that flashed “SIGNAL RELAY MALFUNCTION”. “I think somebody’s messing with the sensors—I’m getting bad data from the main relay, up top of Grand Central.”

“On my way.”

“Wait, wait.” Kris turned around. “Where’s the other Spider-Man?”

“Oh, uh, on vacation, but don’t worry—I’ve got this.” Kris flipped off of the wall and began swinging to Grand Central. He still couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d met the guy before, even if he had _never_ met anyone with the name ‘Bradley Cooper’. His interface displayed an incoming call from Bradley. He decided to answer. “This is Spider-Man.”

“ _Hey, forgot to mention: there was a break-in last night right next door in Roxxon Plaza. Group called “The Underground”. Caught ‘em around my stop this morning._ ”

“The Underground… Know anythin’ else about them?”

“ _They think of themselves as a “young mafia”. They’ve been around for a while, but now they’ve got a new boss. “The Tinkerer”._ ”

“Tinkerer… thanks for the tip.” Kris stopped at a building and began walking. He didn’t know how to end the conversation, nor let it continue. He was stuck. “So, uh… you call Spider-Man often? Like, for help?”

“ _Heh, didn’t really have a way to get in touch ‘til this app thing. But I saw you on the news last night taking down Rhino. Figured you’d be the right person to call._ ”

“So, uh… been working on the subway long…?”

“ _Nah. Took the job in 2012, after my father and sister—well, anyway, I was trying to make some changing decided this job was a good place to start. The trains going down on my watch doesn’t exactly paint me in a good light._ ”

“Well, you can tell your boss you showed initiative by using the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man app.” Kris flipped off of the Colexco building and landed on top of Grand Central Station. He looked up at the red sensor. “Too many wires on this one.”

He turned around, tracing the direction of where the cable was. It led to a door. Kris tried to open it, but it appeared to be locked. “Open sesame!” He said as he pulled the door down. “Oh.” 

Inside was an Underground thug. Kris felt the numbness of the Venom Strike surge through his fist as he punched the guy, knocking him back into a wall. He approached the unconscious thug and took the mask, twisting it around with his hand. He slowly put it back, and moved to the monitor. 

On top of it laid a piece of technology that seemed to be a jammer of sorts. “This tech is… crazy. A good kind of crazy. Hate to do this to tech like these, but…” He lifted a hand toward it, concentrating his bioelectric energy to his fingertips, with a yellow glow moving toward his fingertips, then toward the jammer. 

“ _Sensors are back online. What did you do?_ ”

Kris glanced at the monitor. The colour turned from red to green, to which he automatically thought of as a good thing. “Took care of the guy messing with it.” He turned to the box with a unique-looking skull logo at the front. It seemed to be the Underground logo. “And it looks like they left some of their toys behind.” He slowly lifted the lid and picked out a part that seemed to be like a needle. “Wow. I could…”

He switched his web-shooters to the setting of holograms, and shot it at the ground. The drone lifted, and a hologram shot out of it. He waved his hand at it. “Yup. Definitely not physical… yet.” 

He swiped the drone from out of the air and tinkered around with it.

~~~

“That should do it…” he muttered. He casually strolled out of the room, only to be ambushed by a gang of the Underground. “Ohoh, I’ve got a good time to test the new addition!” 

He whipped out the holo-drones and they all materialized in front of the thugs, cracking their holographic knuckles and punching away. Kris chuckled a little at how well they worked on the first try. He leapt toward a wall and bounced off of it for a punch at one of the thugs. A thug managed to land a hit, but a hologram retaliated for him. “Ha—I actually kinda like these little guys! They’re cool!”

“Hey, so, Underground, right? I actually thought you’d be jerboas at first! Get it? Because UNDERground? HAH!” Kris flipped over a few thugs and delivered two punches, sending the group back. He webbed the remaining guy up into a cocoon of sorts and threw him at the pile. “And that is why you should be underground, instead of overground.”

“Should prob’ly check on Bradley.” Kris double tapped his ear, calling the person in question. He zipped to a railing of sorts. “Hey, Mr. Cooper, how’re things looking now?” 

“ _I’ve got a signal, but no trains on the tracks. Something must be going down at the yard._ ”

“It was, uh, the Underground messing with your sensors. And now that I think about it, does Roxxon use the subway to ship Nuform?”

“ _The subway system was designed to carry people. Not freight. But this line got some updates when Roxxon Plaza went in._ ”

“So they could be using it under the table… Hm. I’ll follow up on it.” Kris had a slight feeling that he should ask about him, in case his suspicions were true. Either it was, or it was just him jumping to conclusions, or it was just his wild imagination. “So, uh, you mentioned your father and sister. You got other family?”

“ _Haven’t seen them in a while. Had to make some changes, like taking this job, but I miss ‘em. Especially my son. We used to play hide and seek together._ ”

Pure coincidence, he thought. Surely it could just be nothing more than coincidence, right? He wracked his brain for a list of sorts. Played hide and seek with his son, check. Haven’t seen family in a while, check. Mentioned father and sister, check. At this point, he was almost convinced that it was just his imagination and pure coincidence. “Well, maybe you could see him again—them. Your family.”

“ _Hope so, kid._ ”

~~~

“Tinkerer…” Kris muttered the second he opened the door to the control room, only to be greeted with a graffiti of “The Tinkerer”. The foul scent of smoke hit his nose, and he managed to locate the source: a malfunctioning control panel. “Wow. Wrecked controls. Gonna have to put the trains back on the track by hand, or… by _web._ ”

Kris zipped to the train on a turntable and pulled it toward the tunnel but with a closed door. He moved ahead of the train and pulled. “Good, good, good…”

He pulled the other train to the turntable and directed it to the train to make a second compartment of sorts. He looked around for another train, and found one. The problem was that it was lifted. No matter how hard he tried to pull it down, it just refused to let go. Nothing worked. Until he decided to climb on the top of the train. “OH! Oh, my goodness, I had to turn the gear. That’s dumb.” He pulled as hard as he could, and the train dropped. But it slowly lifted back up. “Dangit, train, just hold still!” He pulled it back down, and quickly webbed it. 

“Great. Great. Okay. Now, the power…” He headed toward the generator, and… nothing. It was damaged. “Perfect. All the synonyms for ‘good’! Is what I’d be saying, if it weren’t for bioelectricity!” Kris punched the backup generator, and the electricity started sparking around. He shot a web and connected it to the original generator, and it powered the train, making all three carts pull into the cave.

“Yes!” Kris leapt out of the trainyard and started walking on the walls of buildings. “Hey, Mr. Cooper. Uh, anything changed on your end?”

“ _Panels just lit up like Christmas. Good job, kid._ ”

“Glad to help. Anything comes up, you can post a note on the app… I think.” Kris should have asked Claude about the app first, before he talked about any features that probably didn’t exist.

“ _Wait a sec. I got a little something here for you. It’s not much, but…_ ”

“For _me?_ ” Kris was surprised that he was getting a present from a random New Yorker that he’d most likely never speak to again. 

“ _It’s the least I could do for the guy who saved my job._ ”

“Cool, cool, I’ll, uh, head back now.” Kris shot a web and lazily let go of the building’s surface, swinging very slowly. An incoming call from Peter popped up in his interface, so he answered. 

“ _Hey, Kris! Just landed in Europe. How’s day one of solo Spider-Manning?_ ”

“Uh—pretty good. And I found, like, a conspiracy thingy in my neighborhood.” Kris neglected to add in the ‘at least, it always seemed good at first’, because he didn’t want Peter to worry. Especially when he was far away from the continent itself.

“ _Classic! Got a plan?_ ” Peter seemed enthusiastic about the situation.

“Sorta, kinda, making it up as I go?” Kris doubted himself, assuming that Peter almost always had a plan when it comes to being Spider-Man.

“ _The mark of a true Spider-Man._ ” Peter sounded proud of him just by saying ‘making it up as I go’. Kris breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, if you need me, I’m a phone call away… and a cross-Atlantic flight, but it’s fine.”

“ _Sure,_ dude; oh, and thanks for the gift. It’s great!”

“ _You earned it._ ” Kris almost let go of the webbing from that sentence. He could almost _feel_ the warm hot chocolate run down his throat just by what Peter had previously said.

“ _Oh—MJ needs me. Gotta go. Bye._ ”

~~~

Kris received a text from Daymond. God, he hadn’t heard his name for a long time. It was from their old friend group chat that’s been dead for almost three years in a row. Eight years, if you’re counting the decimation. “Oh, cool. A hangout sesh. Um… I should get there after I help Mr. Cooper.”

“ _Spider-Man_ ”—Kris wasn’t used to being called Spider-Man aside from his friends and relatives, who would do it jokingly. He fanboy screamed in front of him.—“ _Underground’s here. Putting bombs on the tracks._ ”

“ _Bombs?_ Dang classic super villain tropes!”

“ _Guess they didn’t like you fixing things._ ”

“Alright, um, stay indoors—I’ve got this.”

~~~

Kris neared the tracks and spotted a massive firefight between the cops and the Underground. “Oh, hey, Underground! I see you’ve learnt from your mistakes, and went to the underpass! Very nice!”

Kris flipped over one thug and Venom Strike’d him from behind. He dodged a bullet, literally, and webbed the shooter. He zipped to the shooter and smacked him across the head. He grabbed the gun and threw it at the rest before webbing one of them to a wall, and one of them into a cocoon. He shot two webs and threw him at another guy. Once everyone was finished, he headed toward the bomb that was ready to detonate and threw it away, webbing it to lower the explosiveness.

His skull buzzed—he turned around to see more Underground on the train tracks. He zipped toward the tracks and began punching. “Oh, _dude!_ do you not know what happened to the last Underground that stood on elevated train tracks? Well, me neither, because I never had it until today!”

Kris zipped to an enemy and struck them from behind with his Venom Strike. He swiftly webbed the bomb and threw it, webbing it mid-air to minimize destruction. He saw more thugs below, so he flipped off of the tracks and swing-kicked three thugs. He webbed one to a wall and zipped to a thug that was still mid-air from the swing-kick. He kicked him to the ground, and webbed the third into a cocoon before slamming him into a ground. He turned to the two bombs and threw them away, webbing all of them. The first Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man mission? A success.

~~~

“Hey, Mr. Cooper! You, uh, okay?” Kris asked the second he latched onto the wall.

“Yeah. Thanks to you,” he said with a smile. He turned around to his drawer. “Oh, and here you go. One year unlimited subway pass.” Kris took it and took a good look at it. “Did I get the name right?”

“How did you—?” The name had ‘Kristian Echarri’ on it. He quickly slid it into an empty web cartridge on his belt and paused, the familiar sting of tears slowly filling his eyes. ‘Bradley took a few steps, but Kris jabbed a finger at his direction. “Stay there—stay right there. Don’t move.”

“I’d like to tell you a few things if that’s alright. I know this is impossible to understand, Kristian. I thought I knew what to say to you, but I don’t. I don’t know what to say to you, except I’m sorry. It’s me. It’s me, Kristian. And I’m sorry.”

Kris came to the conclusion he previously had earlier. “You’re not my father…”

“I am your father, Kristian. I want you to just—”

“My father’s dead.” Kris jabbed another finger, getting off of the wall and onto the ledge. The burning feeling of… anger. He didn’t know why he was angry. He also felt happy that his father was alive, but he also abandoned him. He didn’t know what to feel at that moment. “He’s dead— _who are you?_ ”

“I had to disappear, and I’m sorry. Understand that. I had to disappear to keep you safe.”

Kris dropped down from the ledge and gripped the collar of his shirt. He managed to keep himself composed on the outside, but definitely not the inside.“ _Say it._ Say what you wanna say. What do you want to say, where’ve you _been?_ ” He said, voice slowly breaking with every word. “ _You’re dead…_ ”

“Listen to me. Listen to me.” He placed a hand on Kris’ head. “I had to disappear to keep my mistakes from catching up with you. I had to stay away to keep Osborn from hurting you, you understand what I’m saying? I’m so sorry.” With that, Kris stopped gripping the collar of his shirt and instead wrapped his arms around him, burying his face on his shoulder. 

~~~

Kris decided to meet up with his friends. His old friends.

“Dude, you should’ve been in Brooklyn Visions—we got a trip to _Singapore!_ ” Daymond explained as Kris slid down the railings.

He grinded to a halt, then turned back at his friend group. “ _Bescuse me?_ You mean to tell me you went to Singapore without me? How’s it? I’m sad you didn’t tell me!”

“Someone give him the bottle,” Lyte jokingly said.

“Hey—come on! Just because, like, you guys are miraculously five years older than me, it doesn’t make a difference!” 

“I think it does.”

“Oh, and Lyte’s told us about how you got a girlfriend.” Daymond raised an eyebrow, smirking at him. “Good on you, at least you’re starting early.”

“Oh, shut up…”

~~~

“You know, I am _this_ tempted to push you off,” Lyte deadpanned when she saw Kris casually climb over the fence to the other side, his back facing the ocean and a half of his feet touching the deck.

“You wouldn’t do that to _me,_ would you?” Kris could felt the buckets of sweat rising. Not only was he going to get the stench of the harbor, but he could also expose his identity if he were to stick to the wall when pushed off. He opted for the better option, which was to climb back over. 

“You’re no fun.”

“Speaking of fun, remember the time capsules we hid?” 

“ _Dude!_ I remember! It was, um, the Fibonacci sequence… right?” Kris answered.

“Nerd.”

~~~

“Ugh—ew,” Kris commented the second he saw his hair. He gagged at the sight of his middle school-self. Lyte was looking at the Science Fair Prize. “Now, I see what you meant—I don’t even know _why_ I thought that was good, back then!”

“And our fashion taste?” Daymond added.

“Now that I remember, where’s Rebekka?” Kris asked. Lyte and Daymond’s eyes darted away almost instantly. “Something… wrong? Did you guys fight or something?”

“No… no fight.”

“Crap, now I’m late,” Lyte said. 

“Right. I also gotta go. Ivy’s rally tonight,” Kris added.

“See you soon, shortstuff.”

“You know I’m taller than you, by, like, thirty centimeters?”

Lyte pointed at her temple. “Not in here.”


	51. Time To Rally / This Is My Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was time for the rally Ivy talked about on Christmas Dinner. Little did Kris know, huge things awaited him...

Kris took his backpack out from the pole and slung it over his shoulder. He dropped down to his room and simply placed his clothes over his winter wear. “Got the house key?” Claude called from the hallway.

“Yep! Just gimme a few.” Kris slipped on his glasses and put a beanie over it. He grabbed his headphones and slipped it over his neck, slung his backpack over his shoulder and opened the door. By the time he left, Claude had already left the door open. He chuckled to himself and headed out the door, locking it behind him.

Claude was already waiting for him down the stairs, along with Lysithea, and Gwen. Emma, on the other hand, was already by the stage. Kris closed the door behind him and climbed down the stairs, his hand on the railing. The snow that he gathered from the railing formed into a ball and he threw it at Claude. “Hey! Dude, I am _so_ filling your suit with snow.”

“C’mere, Swiss Cheese,” Lysithea chuckled. “Also, your beanie’s off centre.”

“Hey—the Switzerland beanie’s nice!” Kris awkwardly fixed his beanie and puffed his cheeks at her. “And it’s half-price, and it’s not even funny!”

“What _makes_ it funny is your _reactions,_ ” Gwen explained.

“Gotta agree with her on this one, my man,” Claude agreed, smacking Kris’ back. “The joke’s not funny, but your reaction certainly was.”

“You—argh, you _battery—_ ” Kris wracked his brain for more words, while also trying to not to offend any of his friends while doing so, because dang it, he was too nice to do so. “You’re a… a battery! That’s, um, overflowing with energy. Small battery. And you can’t contain the energy.”

“Where are you going with this?” Lysithea asked.

“He’s saying you’re a battery overflowing with energy but you can’t invest that into growing taller,” Gwen deadpanned. Lysithea smacked his shoulder before folding her arms and pointing her nose up in the air. Kris quietly massaged his shoulder.

“I was kidding…” he whispered. “And strangely enough, that caught me off guard. That actually kinda hurt. Kinda.”

Gwen, wanting to change the subject to prevent further awkwardness between the group, started talking. “Okay but— _this_ is what Harlem’s all about—”

“Food!” Claude interrupted.

“Yes, Claude, food. Anyway—awesome music, pop-up street fair…” Gwen listed down.

“ _And_ it’s practically a Carnaval del Barrio!” Kris added.

“You just—wanted to reference In The Heights, didn’t you,” Gwen said with a straight face. Kris nodded. 

“Still hard to think of Ivy as a politician, though,” Kris mentioned. “She’s been a teacher since we were all technically reborn. Which was, like, between 2018 to 2023.”

“Don’t they have similar skill sets?” Lysithea asked. “Corralling people.”

“Educating people,” Claude continued.

“And making sure they don’t throw things at each other,” Gwen finished.

Kris headed toward the lady at the mural and looked at her artwork. “‘S pretty good!”

The lady gestured a ‘thank you’, and Kris responded with ‘you’re welcome’. Claude headed forward. “Should probably take ASL some time. I’ve basically already mastered español.”

“Oh, si? Desde cuando?”

“Har-har.” Claude turned to see multiple Roxxon agents. “Wow, Roxxon’s _really_ all about the constant vigilance…” he whispered. Everyone else in the group looked around and nodded.

“No kidding.” The group walked up to the stage, where Emma was waiting for them.

“What took you so long?”

“Swiss Cheese over here’s the reason.” Lysithea stifled a giggle.

“Oh, come on!”

“Shh, the rally’s starting!”

“Good evening, neighbors.” Ivy spoke through a megaphone. “Do you remember what we lost, when Roxxon bulldozed this block?” The crowd started booing. Not for her, but for Roxxon. “... best hand-rolled ice cream in New York City. And Junipero’s Daycare. St. Thérèse’s Church, who’s choir…”

“I kinda wanna know what’s for dinner tonight…” Kris muttered. Emma and Gwen, who were completely invested in the rally, shushed him.

“Even now… Roxxon is transporting Nuform, its “experimental fuel”, across the city… but they won’t tell us the risks.” Just as Ivy had said ‘risks’, the billboard on her right started to malfunction. It briefly flashed a skull logo, and a masked figure showed on the screen.

“ _This message is for Roxxon. The man you answer to, Simon Krieger, is a killer. This plaza is a monument to everything he’s done. I won’t let it open. The Underground will stop it._ ” The billboard displayed the Underground logo, and many thugs from said group showed up from the roofs and dropped down. 

“They need you—I’ll go help your cousins,” Claude whispered. When he rushed in to help, so did Gwen, Lysithea, and Emma. 

Kris ran off to a nearest alleyway and ditched his clothes in the back pack he brought and swung into action, dropping it where Claude could see it. With that said, Kris swing-kicked a thug into action.

“Hey, buddy, tech’s cool and all, but are you tech support? I kinda forgot my password!” A thug with giant gauntlets jumped at him, but he dodged it. A bullet was shot at him, and he slid under the thug to avoid it. Luckily, the tech was bullet proof, so nobody was hurt. He kicked the thug up into the air and delivered blows. When he dropped down, he used his Venom Strike against an enemy, knocking him back into a few and electrocuting them all. “Way to be a buzzkill. HAH!”

Kris flipped out of the way and uppercutted a thug and dodged more bullets. He webbed the last guy’s shirt and pulled him closer, quick stepped to his right, and flipped in a way that managed to kick the guy’s head. 

With the lower ground done, he zipped to the area that was under construction and pounced off of the ledge. When the thug was still falling backward, he uppercutted again and delivered more blows mid-air. He flipped off of a wall to avoid more bullets. “What happened to UNDERground if you’re OVERground? Gee—am I repeating my jokes? Gotta hire a joke writer later.”

“ _Dude, we made it home. Isabelle’s driving Ivy to the hospital._ ”

“What?! Is she okay?”

“ _Ivy hurt her arm when she fell. Don’t worry—we’re taking care of her. What about you? Underground planning anything?_ ”

“This attack doesn’t make sense. I thought they wanted Nuform, but there isn’t any here! We gotta figure out Tinkerer’s next move.”

“ _Okay. Logging into your analytics. I’ll help however I can._ ” Kris heard a faint noise from the other end of the call. He couldn’t make it out from the destruction. “ _Oh, and Gwen ‘nd Lysithea are helping, too._ ”

“What was that?!” Kris shouted. He turned to see a massive explosion on what seemed to be the Braithwaite Bridge. “Oh my goodness…”

He zipped to a crane and started swinging.

~~~

“So it _was_ a ruse…” Kris muttered when he zipped to the arch of the bridge. He dropped down in between a group of Roxxon agents and Underground thugs and raised a hand at each group. “Whoah, whoah, whoah! Let’s not shoot each other, okay?”

He glanced at the Underground group to see a feminine-esque figure in a purple hood and mask approach. It was the Tinkerer. Kris cautiously eyed her, but her movements were too quick to even notice—from what he could see, her tech boosted her towards him and kicked him to the railings of the bridge. A shield materialized in front of her as Roxxon agents began shooting away. Kris tried to run back, but two gauntleted thugs smacked him back. “We’re after the Nuform. Ignore everything else.”

From her hands, two arms that slightly resembled Doc Ock’s arms emerged from her wrists and she pulled. The back fell over and she walked up to the Nuform containers and held it in her hands. “Get rid of him. And grab as much as you can carry.”

Kris concentrated Venom Strike to his hands and smacked the-two-thugs-who-were-keeping-him-still’s backs, making them go under. He shot a web at the container and began pulling, but her tech wasn’t making it any easier. The Venom Strike remnants from the previous attacks made its way to her mask, and it disappeared. His heart sank. “The hell are you doing?!”

“ _Lyte…?_ ” The distraction from the fact that his childhood friend was the Tinkerer was enough for his Venom Strike to start acting up on its own, and enough time for Lyte to smack him away into a truck full of Nuform. He staggered to get up, but his bioelectricity was discharging.

“He’s destabilizing it—get down!” Lyte’s mask rematerialized and she formed a shield on her wrist. Kris tried to leap forward, but the Nuform that he just destabilized exploded on him, sending the truck flying onto the cables. Lyte peered over from her shield, then looked at the goon beside her, placing the Nuform on her back. “ Keep him busy.” 

Kris pressed against his back a bit before he kicked the goon up and punched away. When he dropped down, he used his Venom Strike and punched a guy, sending him flying toward the truck. He got a call from Claude. “ _Kris! I saw the explosion—you okay?_ ”

“Yeah, I’m okay, but did you see—? The Tinkerer—it’s Lyte.” From the sound of tech being broken from him, he could somewhat pick up the sound of rejoicing, then shushes, then a throat being cleared, and a ‘sorry’. “I saw her today! If I just put everything together…”

“ _This isn’t your fault, dude._ ”

“I was so happy to see her at Christmas Dinner, I wasn’t paying attention, and I, I, that probably explains why Rebekka wasn’t there, and… oh, God, is she in it too? And Daymond?!” The call was cut short. Probably due to the fact that he was fighting on a bridge. He flipped over the last two guys and hit them with a Venom Strike. 

He heard the cable bonds snapping, and he flipped onto the cables to see the main tower that held up the cables collapse, causing the middle cable to slide off. That caused a chain reaction of sorts that caused the bridge to do a wave motion, similar to an ocean wave. He webbed the middle cable to try and pull it back, but it didn’t show any signs of yielding at all. Instead, the cable threw him off the bridge.

He recovered by swinging around, surveying the area. He zipped to a part with civilians on it, and looked around for something— _anything_ for him to use to get everybody else out. He saw a truck containing water, so he pulled, making it spray water over the flames. “Okay, people, move it, move it!”

Once everybody got out, the cable bonds attaching that specific part of the bridge snapped, making it fall into the water. He spotted a bus that was close to falling, so he zipped to it. He quickly webbed the bottom so that it wouldn’t fall as quickly. He flipped over the bus and webbed it, pulling hard. “Okay, everybody out!”

The bridge almost gave way, but it was fortunate enough for it to fully not give way. A person was stuck in it, however, and Kris was so close to falling off of it. Good enough, he opted for a slightly better option, which was to zip through the bus window and grab the person, shielding him from the last window and swinging him to safety. The bus fell behind them, and he glanced at the bridge to see the middle part of it fall, making a group of people trapped.

He leapt off of the boat and swung between the gap and began webbing away. That way, it would be slightly stable compared to earlier. He gave it a few last-minute webbing before looking around for anything to help the civilians cross over the huge gap. Kris found the lower part of a truck convoy and decided that could be a good bridge. 

Unfortunately, the bridge he stood on lowered, causing the webs to snap. “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!”

Kris shot a bunch of webs and bunched them all together. With both hands holding each side, he pulled it closer. It was almost straining for his arms, but if this was how Spider-Man deals with stuff, then so be it. 

When the last civilian crossed the makeshift bridge, it broke apart, causing her to fall. Kris tied the bunch of webs together and dove in to save her. A father struggled to get out of the car, but when he did, he struggled to get his kid’s seatbelt out. Meanwhile, Kris swung the civilian he saved back to safety. Problem was that the bridge started to lower again, causing multiple vehicles to be fall. Kris dodged a few and even bounced off a few. A truck fell toward them, and he ran off the side of it before leaping back to the safer part of the bridge.

“SOMEBODY HELP!” Kris glanced at the man who shouted. “MY KID—!”

Kris looked at a falling car leapt for it. He webbed the car’s back, and webbed the bridge’s surface. He tied the two webs together and ripped out the rear windshield to see a kid flailing around in his seatbelt. “I want my dad! Help!” 

The kid seemed even more terrified when the rear windshield was ripped out. Kris, somewhat knowing that the kid probably thought of him as an alien of sorts, resorted to remove his mask to comfort the kid. To at least let him know he was being saved by a human being. “Hey, hey, hey. It’s okay. Just a normal guy. Alright?”

“Wanna hold onto this?” Kris held out his mask. The kid nodded. “What's your name?” Kris looked deeper into the car to find a bag with the words, ‘Jack’. “Jack?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Let’s get you out of here. Stay very still…” He slowly and cautiously crawled into the car. He did so, because he knew that any sudden movements might cause the webbing to snap. The creaking of the car didn’t help his slowly building anxiety. He got onto the back of Jack’s seat, and he placed his hand on the seatbelt. “Okay. I’m going to unbuckle your seatbelt. On three?”

“All right,” Jack muttered.

“One... Two... Three.” The kid fell from the unbuckled seat and had his back against the wheel. Kris gave his attempt at a smile to the kid. “See how easy that was? You did a great job!” 

Unfortunately, the gas from the car leaked from the rear of the wheels, and hit the lights of the car, causing the car to be set ablaze. Kris could have caught Jack, but he was too late. The webbing that had held the car snapped, and Kris quickly shot a new one. But that made him go farther from the boy, and he couldn’t shoot another web to get the boy, or else he would have to risk dropping the car. “Jack, climb, now!”

“I can’t!”

“Yes, you can!” Kris hoped that the Placebo effect would work and encourage the boy, but the boy looked doubtful. “Put... Put it on! The mask! It’s gonna make you strong.” 

Jack glanced at him struggling to hold the car together, then back at the mask. “Jack, trust me. Put it on.” Slowly, he placed the mask over his head. “There you go! That’s it! That’s it, buddy! That’s it. Okay, now, climb!” The car slowly started to creak. He could feel the part he was holding onto start to break off. All he had to hope for was for it to not break off.

“Do me a favor, a little faster. Okay, bud?” Jack struggled to climb the car from the immense pressure he was feeling. Kris started to feel his grip loosen. Now, he had to hope that Jack could climb faster and be able to reach him before his grip or the car breaks off. “You’re doing great, buddy. You’re doing great!”

“That’s it, keep coming. Keep it coming. Keep coming.” As Jack got closer and closer to Kris, the car started to creak even louder this time. Jack had his arm outstretched to grab Kris but the car broke off, and Jack didn’t grab his wrist in time, so he fell along with the car. “ _NO!_ ”

Kris managed to think quick and webbed Jack’s shirt. Jack held onto the webbing as the car splashed behind him. Kris breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled him closer. When Kris managed to secure Jack, he pulled Kris’ mask over his face. “Thanks, kid.”

Kris pushed Jack over the bridge, and climbed up after him as the father retrieved him. The two started to hug tightly, and seeing that… it struck him in the heart. He never had any of those experiences with his own father. The father turned to him. “Sorry for ever doubting you, Kid—Spider-Man.”

Kris nodded in acknowledgement. A helicopter lowered next to the bridge. He turned to the damaged bridge and glanced at his hands. “I did this. My powers… I made it explode.”

A couple of Roxxon agents stepped forward. Kris turned to them. “Everyone’s safe. After the explosion, the bridge started to—”

“We’ve got eyes on Kid-Arachnid. Please advise.” A few beats of silence passed. “Copy.”

The Roxxon agents raised their guns, pointing at him. Kris raised both of his hands. “No—no, I’m not your enemy.”

“What’re you doing?! He saved us!”

“Hey, leave him alone! He’s just a kid!”

“Leave him alone!”

“You can’t kill Spider-Man!”

“I’m recording this!”

One Roxxon agent turned to the lady who was recording. “You! Put that phone away! I said put that phone away _NOW!_ ” He grabbed the phone and threw it into the harbor before training his guns at the group of civilians.

Kris’ hands started to shake. It began buzzing, but not like the Venom Strike. It was a different kind of buzzing. “I saved them!” He began to breathe anxiously. He glanced at his hands, and it turned a translucent blue, until his whole body turned into a translucent blue.

“What the hell?!”

“Where’d he go?” The Roxxon agents pressed their backs against each other.

“Oh my god!”

“Did he go over?!”

“Did they push him?”

Judging by their reactions, he was probably invisible to them. A Roxxon agent started going closer, so he leapt off of the bridge and swung to a crane. He turned back to normal. 

“What happened to Roxxon being “here for us”?! They were gonna _shoot_ me! They didn’t even _listen!_ ”

~~~

“ _Here today is Simon Krieger, discussing the destruction of Braithwaite Bridge._ ”

Kris continued to sketch on his notebook. “ _Look, I want to root for the new Spider-Man, but his—wh-what did you call it, bioelectricity? Well that cost us Roxxon property—and it destroyed a bridge!_ ”

Claude opened the door and turned to Kris. “You want breakfast?” Kris shook his head. He turned to his computer to see the Just The Facts with J. Jonah Jameson podcast being played.

“ _Roxxon had nearly dealt with the Underground when—_ ”

“This is messed up—that’s not even what happened!” 

Kris stopped sketching and sighed. “Lyte’s the Tinkerer. She stole the Nuform. No idea why… and it’s my fault the bridge blew up.” 

Claude sat down beside him. “No, it’s not—”

The door opened, and Ivy entered the room. “I’m headed to the campaign headquarters. You boys need anything while I’m out? I could pick up coffee for you two.”

Kris had his mouth open at her for a few beats. He shook his head. “I thought you’d quit after last night.”

“Why would I quit?” Claude got out of his seat on Kris’ bed and headed back to the desk. “I said I’d fight for my home; I meant it.”

“You could’ve…” Kris stopped himself from saying it—he took a deep breath and sighed. “You could’ve died.”

“Our family doesn’t give up. You probably understand that.” Ivy headed out the door.

“Ivy.”Kris stood up. She turned around. “Coffee would be great… if you don’t mind.”

She shook her head. “I don’t.” 

The door closed, and Kris sighed, looking at his hand as it partially turned translucent. Claude was by the window, looking at his sketch. “When I got powers… I thought I’d be able to fix anything. Do anything that Spider-Man does.”

Kris turned off his hand’s invisibility and shook it. Claude closed the notebook with a loud snap and sat back down beside him. “Whenever you say “Spider-Man”, you always mean Peter. _You’re_ Spider-Man. Not Kid-Arachnid, anymore. For all I know, don’t do it like him—do it like _you._ ”

Kris took the handbook and turned to Claude, grinning. Claude began working on the laptop as Kris ripped out the designs and threw it to the trash. The two laid out Kris’ old Kid-Arachnid suit on the bed. “Yeah—should definitely change up the colour scheme, so you’re not like his sidekick.”

“Yeah… actually, yeah, that’s a good point!” Kris laid out the newly sketched design on top of the suit. It was completely black with a red spider that had white and blue streaks, with the inclusion of a hood. The belt was replaced by a bracelet that worked as both web-shooters and web cartridges that barely mess with the costume at all. Plus, the web-shooters are detachable from the bracelet, so he can wear it under his civilian clothes, as well. Kris took a picture of the sketch.

“Okay. Gotta test out the voltage of your Venom Strike…” Claude tossed a piece of fabric at Kris. Kris used his bioelectricity, but it instantly disappeared. The two of them shook heads. 

Kris threw another scrapped idea in the bin. 

Kris messed around with the web-shooters for it to work properly, and it surprised him by exploding everywhere. He jumped a little on his seat. Claude tossed him another chunk of fabric. Kris used his bioelectricity again. It didn’t disappear, but it _did_ leave the smell of smoke. 

Kris spray painted the web-shooters to be black, upside down. He grabbed the cup of coffee Ivy had left him just a few moments ago and tried to drink upside down, similar to how Peter did when they escorted the convoy. Surprise, he choked on it, dropped the mug, and coughed violently. 

Claude stood back this time, with safety goggles. Kris shut his eyes as he concentrated his bioelectricity to his hands. Unlike the last three-thousand, two-hundred and thirty-four times they’ve tried, they finally got it just right. No smoke scent, no disappearing, and no stains.

Kris and Claude did their handshake and Claude tossed the notebook on the desk. 

~~~

Kris started wall-running up the Colexco building. He leapt off of it and dove, narrowly dodging Grand Central Station. He swung and did a few poses before he hit the top of the water tower. When he hit the top, he did another pose as pigeons started flying. He swung through the Empire State building and dove right into action. 

“Hellooo, New York!”


	52. Cat's Pyjamas / Someone Left The Lights On...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris checked the FNSM app to see if anything went wrong before deciding to head to Lyte's old repair shop.

“New suit, same old me!” Kris swung up to a building and paused when he received a call from Peter. “Oh, uh, hey Pete. What’s going on?”

“ _Kris! Finally got through… So, I saw the news. It was in Symkarian, so either “a bridge exploded” or “a bagel was fumigated”, which doesn’t make any sense in context… either way, I’m looking at flights. I can be back tomorrow night._ ”

“No,” Kris said. He was surprised himself that he said it. But a small, miniscule part of him also _didn’t_ want back up this time around, because he felt like he should prove himself worthy of being the “Spider-Man” by doing this alone. “Uh, don’t do that! It’s okay. Figured out who was responsible and I’m gonna stop them. I promise.”

“ _Okay, I trust you. But if you need help, I’ll be on the first plane home. Otherwise I’ll see you when I get back in a few weeks, okay?_ ”

“Yeah, okay… Thanks. And good luck learning Symkarian.”

Peter on the other end of the call groaned. “ _Why are there seven different words for “bathroom”?_ ”

~~~

Kris decided to check on Teo’s Bodega. He did, after all, report a crime on the app. When he entered, it was a mess—packets of food everywhere, bottles everywhere… it was just a mess in general. 

“Spider-Man?”

“Uh… I’m here.”

“What? Not _you._ My cat.” The inflection on the “you” was strangely offensive to Kris. “Named after the _real_ Spider-Man. Bunch’a jerks broke in here and robbed my place. Think they took Spider-Man, too.”

The second inflection on “real” almost tempted Kris into not helping him. But if this was what Peter dealt with before, he might as well endure it. “Oh… see where they went?”

“Overheard ‘em say they’re hitting the power substation. Couple blocks over.”

Kris walked out of the store and zipped to the power station, which was a lot nearer than he expected. He could spot it from his original position. “Why would they go to a power station?” he wondered. He lifted the hatch and dropped in, webbing it back down.

“Claude, I, uh, need your help. Some dudes robbed Teo’s Bodega and then headed to the closest power station.”

“ _Weird. You got my full attention, watching through your livestream._ ” From what Kris could hear, he laid back on his chair and crunched on what sounded like food. 

Kris crawled around the walls and found a group of masked thugs. He webbed the first one to a wall and kicked him to make him lose consciousness. “Huh… I could camo and prob’ly epicly ker-prank them…”

“ _Please don’t say ker-prank…_ ” It sounded like Gwen. He could hear Claude howling with laughter.

“Claude, did you grant them access to my _suit?_ ” Kris whispered.

Claude seemed to have calmed down from his laughter, and a few beats of silence passed. “ _Well, it wouldn’t be fun if I was the only one watching your live stream… it’s just me, Gwen, and Lysithea. No biggie._ ”

Kris groaned as he flipped off of the wall and turned invisible. He tried so hard to stifle his laughter, because so many possibilities of what he could do had opened up to him. He tapped on a guy’s shoulder with bioelectricity concentrated at his fingertips, and he watched him drop.

He took out the last three by sneaking up on them and smacking them on the heads while their guard was down, or webbing them to a wall. “ _Station’s output is down to sixty-four percent… Maybe you could find a backup._ ” 

“ _Over there._ ”

Kris looked around for the generator. “Where?”

“ _Right there._ ”

“Second time: where?”

“ _Use your eyes, genius._ ”

“Jeezum—I _am._ ” 

~~~

Kris finally found it after three minutes of the group telling him “Look over there”, and him returning with a “where”. He punched it and quickly shook his hand. They sure were denser than he expected. “Now just gotta find Teo’s cat…”

“ _Over there._ ”

“Oh my goodness—not falling for those tricks agai—” Kris turned around when he heard a metal clank. It was the cat. “Spider-Man! Wait—wait! Ugh… he went down the elevator shaft.” Kris pulled on the pulley of the elevator and webbed it, so the elevator wouldn’t crush him.

Kris climbed onto the bottom of the elevator and hung from the ceiling, descending close enough into a vent. He zipped to it and started crawling. “Spider-Man—wait!” The cat didn’t listen at all. It just kept on running. He dropped down the vent and found a group of enemies. 

“ _I think I know what these guys want. There’s a bank on this block. No power, no security,_ ” Lysithea said.

“So… we fix the power, we prevent a bank heist,” Kris whispered.

“ _Stopping crime before it begins. Gwen, do the voice._ ”

“ _No._ ”

“ _Pretty please?_ ”

Gwen sighed. A few beats passed, and, “ _This summer…_ ”

“ _In a world, where a group of four teenagers can see the future, only they can stop it._ ”

“Alright, alright, gotta focus.” Kris dropped down and punched someone with his Venom Strike. He grabbed a crate and swung it around in a circle before throwing it at a person. He webbed a thug into a cocoon and leapt into a wall, bouncing off of it and punching the man into a wall, sticking him to it. He kicked a thug into the air and began punching, but a gun was shot at him. Kris stopped punching and dropped down before he webbed a fire extinguisher and threw it at the shooter. He kicked someone into a crate and swing-kicked someone into a wall. 

“Sounds like someone’s paying them. Any idea—?” Kris was cut short when the lights went out. “I got it with the bioelectricity. It’s cool.”

He zipped to a vent and crawled down it. He dropped onto a wall and took out a thug by webbing him to a wall. “Sup! Who’s your boss? Anybody I know?”

Kris jumped down, but was shot a few times. Good thing that he was a Spider-Man, otherwise, he probably wouldn’t survive it. He punched the shooter toward a wall with his Venom Strike and threw a fire extinguisher across the room. With that, he turned invisible and took out the remaining thugs. Kris used his bioelectricity and activated the backup.

He zipped to a vent and crawled around. He dropped down to the rafter and glanced at everything. The cat was being handled by a big guy. He decided to do it silently. And what better to do stealth than being invisible? Kris shut his eyes, and when he opened them, he was flickering back and forth from being visible to being _in_ visible. He relaxed his breathing, and he fully turned invisible. He gripped a few items and started moving them around, doing the stereotypical ghost noises. “Wooooooo… _wooooooo!_ ”

“I’m outta here, man!”

“Every man for himself!”

“Wooooooo—!” Kris’ invisibility ran out on him just as he hit his highest note for his “woooo”s, and the thugs that were previously running paused, staring at him. He groaned. “Remember to set the time limit for invisibility…” 

“It’s Kid-Arachnid!”

“Get him!”

“Don’t you know how rude it is to interrupt a bonding process?!” The big guy placed the cat on the lever. Kris flipped over the big guy and webbed him into a cocoon and tried to pull him around, but he was a lot more heavier than expected. Kris instead used his Venom Strike and pounced at the brute. A thug managed to hit him over the head, but he recovered quickly and threw a fire extinguisher at them. 

A brute swung at him, but he leapt to the ceiling. “Come down here and fight like a man!”

“Don’t suppose I could convince you to come up here and fight like a spider? No? Worth a try.” He webbed a ceiling fan, pulled, and swung it at them, knocking them out. 

Kris walked up to the cat and petted him. He could hear a bunch of “aww”s from the livestream. He grabbed the bag and slung it over his shoulder, pulling the lever. “Let’s get outta here, Spider-Cat.”

The lights flickered back on, and he zipped through the hatch that led to the outside. He swung through Roxxon Plaza and under the underpass, reaching Teo’s Bodega in a matter of just a few seconds. Kris opened the door and bumps into a fellow neighbor. “Oh. Sorry.” 

“Hey, Teo. Got a surprise.” He drifted over to the counter and placed the bag on the counter. The cat popped out of the bag and headed back to its bed.

Teo’s face brightened up. “SPIDER-MAN! Did you have an adventure? You almost gave daddy a heart attack! Oh yes you did! Yes, you did!” Kris looked around, awkward. He cleared his throat and Teo did the same, straightening his back. “Uh. Good work, other Spider-Man. Thanks.”

Teo raised a fist and Kris bumped it. “No prob.”

He headed out the door and began jogging up the wall. “Oh, guys—gonna head to Lyte’s old repair shop in Greenwich. She used to do all the work there—if I’m lucky, she still does.”

“ _Wouldn’t it be easier to just call her and… talk?_ ” Gwen suggested, crunching coming from her end of the call.

“I don’t think so… seeing her on the bridge… I don’t know that person. And I gotta figure out why she’s doing all this.”

“ _Alright, man. Keep us posted, because we’re going out for food._ ”

~~~

“Sad to see the shop like this…” Kris muttered when he dropped onto a streetlight. The shop wasn’t bright and lively anymore. It was boarded up—abandoned. He zipped to the window and dropped in. He coughed from the amount of dust. “Hello?”

Kris glanced at the old shelves. “Lyte, Rebekka, and Daymond and I used to play hide and seek in this shop. Was like our old private world.”

He headed to the backroom and saw that someone left the lights on. Kris took notice of the desk that had a light source that seemed to be specifically for the desk itself. He grabbed a piece of paper that hung on the board in front. “Almost the entire team that worked on Nuform got sick… about nine out of thirteen members. Wait. Rebekka and Lyte’s the project _lead?_ ”

He walked to the other side of the room to find a bunch of bricks that were oddly placed. They were janky and jutting out at places, and light seeped through the small gaps. “Huh. Diagon Alley.”

He turned to the syringe that laid on a box on the table to his right and picked it up, twisting it around his hand. “GCSF… isn’t that stuff used for bone marrow decay? But whose was this?”

Kris placed the syringe back on the box and simply walked through the brick wall. Like he expected, it wasn’t structurally sound. He turned to his left and spotted a mask. “Lyte must’ve designed all the Underground’s gear… OH! Oh, _Tinkerer!_ No wonder… but still, pretty funny how we both started wearing masks.”

Kris jogged to the monitor and started typing on the keyboard until he found two different videos. He turned on the first one.

“ _Running a test upload…_ ” Rebekka, in the background, was coughing violently. 

“ _Half of the team is sick, but Krieger still won’t admit it’s Nuform._ ” Rebekka seemed to struggle to even talk through the coughing. Lyte got off from the camera and sat beside her.

“ _Let me._ ” She took the syringe, but hesitated when she reached her arm. “ _You sure we’re ready?_ ”

“ _We have to be. They broke ground in Harlem today, ahead of schedule._ ”

“ _Poisoning the city to make a buck…_ ”

“ _They keep cutting corners, and ignoring the safety reports. We can’t let them pervert our work like this, Lyte._ ”

Lyte headed to the camera and readjusted it. “ _Okay. First, we flush the core, then we wipe all data. You’re sure they can’t just make more of this stuff?_ ”

“ _No… no, as long as we take out the backup supply in Jersey, too… but without us, they’ll have no idea how Nuform works, or how to create it. Project’ll be DOA._ ”

“ _I’ll record us. Things go wrong, video uploads straight to the Bugle._ ”

“ _Perfect. Ready to save New York?_ ”

“ _Ready._ ”

The video ended. He clicked the second video and played it.

Lyte in the video groaned. Her face slowly grew more and more worried—brows furrowed, frowned lips, anxious breathing, everything. “ _Dammit. No uploads… phone must’ve been damaged._ ” Her breathing seemed to calm down as she faced the ground. 

“ _I won’t let tonight be for nothing._ ” She looked away from the camera and her face contorted. “ _I promise, Reb..._ ”

Kris straightened his back, mouth comically agape and eyes widened. “They were trying to shut the Nuform project down… but something went wrong. Last known location of her phone… if I can track it—” 

The shutter doors slowly slid upward. Kris didn’t want anyone to see, so he relaxed himself to try and get away stealthily, but he just kept flickering back and forth again. “Be invisible, be invisible—”

He held in his breath and closed his eyes. When the shutter doors fully opened, he turned invisible just as the thugs could see him, frightening them and causing them to shoot randomly. 

“What the hell?”

“Where’d he go?”

Kris zipped to a sign and took out a few thugs while maintaining his camouflage. He concentrated all the bioelectricity onto his hands and snuck up behind the Underground members and zapped them easily. “Ha. Camo makes things a lot more easier and a _lot_ more fun!”

He swung back to the room and checked the monitor. “If I find Lyte’s phone, I’ll understand what happened to Rebekka. And why she became the Tinkerer. Maybe. There—got a location.”

With that, he swung out of the room and toward the Roxxon lab.


	53. Corporate Espionage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris decided to sneak into Roxxon to find Lyte's phone to learn about what happened

“Roxxon research labs… this is where the whole Nuform project started.” Kris zipped to the open vent, only to find out it was closed off. “Lyte’s phone is in there, somewhere.”

He dropped down to a lamp post and shot a web at the ground, distracting all three guards. He zipped to a wall and pulled a guard into said wall, webbing him up. He crept around the surface of the wall and webbed another guard into a wall. With the last guard, he took him down by zipping toward them and taking them out.

“Okay… now to get into the building,” he said. Kris could see a generator connecting to the closed off vent. He forced both hands at the generator and absorbed it with his bioelectricity. He didn’t know how, but all he knew was that it managed to work. And absorbing the Nuform that powered the vent fried the generator, giving him a way inside.

He crawled up the vent and turned a right. He spotted a grate, but was closed off. He turned to the fan in front of him and webbed it. “Breaking into a lab full of armed guards—Christmas break sure is different, this year. I should be at home, taking naps, binging Lord of the Rings with my cousins, playing a _ton_ of video games, catching up with Attack On Titan, My Hero, and Wandering Witch, and eating, like, a hundred Christmas cookies.”

He hit a crossroad in the vent. There were three on either side of him. “Hm… right. Right is always right.”

Kris crawled through the right air vent by webbing up the right fan and crawling around. He spotted a fan and webbed it, crawling through it. Only to realize something. “Wait… did I just go in a _circle?_ The guy who installed that was _clearly_ padding his resume.”

Kris webbed the left fan and continued crawling until he hit what looked like a sewer system of sorts. He hung from the ceiling, not wanting to get his suit hit by the sewer water. They may have been able to recreate the same material as his old suit, but the odorless feature wasn’t as perfect. They managed to recreate at least eighty-percent of the material, at least.

He zipped to a small hole that had a big drop into what seemed to be the lower area of the lab. “Tracker said phone’s pretty far below ground level…”

Kris dropped down but could hear Roxxon agents coming his way. He leapt to the ceiling and overheard a conversation between the guards.

“We got a report of a breach through the outer exhaust system—if it’s Underground, _kill them._ Kid-Arachnid or Tinkerer, _detain them._ ”

“Understood, sir.”

Kris dropped down from the ceiling and headed through the doors the Roxxon agents had just entered through. The door closed behind him, and the sound of a person dropping alerted him. He turned around to see a purple figure. “Hey, kid—”

Kris struck first by webbing the wall behind him, pulled himself into a kick, and bounced off of the figure. The figure started to laugh. “What’s so funny, Purpfle?”

“Damn, Kristian—” Kris’ heart dropped. He didn’t know this figure, yet he knew _him._ The figure’s mask removed itself to reveal his father. “For a kid your age—you hit _hard._ ”

“ _Dad._ What the heck. What are you, the—”

“Prowler.” He finished. He started circling around Kris. “And I bet you have a lot of questions right now, but we _need_ to get out of here.” He started walking out to the door Kris had just entered through. “You picked the wrong place to break into.”

“I’m not leaving ‘til I find what I came for.”

He slowly turned to Kris. “Listen, I did some work for Roxxon a while back. You don’t wanna mess with these guys. If we get caught in here…”

“Then help me to the lowest point in the building.”

“Alright, but we do this _my_ way. I know a place where I can access a security terminal, and let you know what’s coming.” (REDACTED) pulled out a bunch of disk-shaped objects from the back of his pocket and handed it to Kris. “Remote mines. Use them if you get in a jam.”

He placed a hand on Kris’ shoulder firmly. “Don’t. Get. Caught.”

Kris zipped to a pole that stood in front of a vent with laser shielding. He took out the remote mines and held it close to his chest. This was the first present he’d gotten from his father in a long time. He sighed. 

“ _See that vent with the laser shielding?_ ”

Kris snapped out of his trance and quickly slid the mines back into his gadget pocket, which was hidden well. He looked up at the laser shielding, and it disappeared. “Whoah. How’d you do that?”

“ _I’ve worked with systems like this before. Now focus. Lowest point in the building is at the bottom of the reactor silo._ ”

“Then that’s where I’m headed,” Kris whispered. He looked at a circuit box of sorts and threw a remote mine at it. He waited for a few seconds and pressed the detonate button. It didn’t explode like he expected, but at least it meant nobody was killed. Instead, it sent a bolt of electricity everywhere. 

He zipped to another point and threw another remote mine at a circuit box of sorts. He detonated it when two people checked, and took out the last person by webbing him to the lights. 

“ _Should be a vent in that room. Leads to a lab, then the reactor._ ”

“Like a Nuform reactor?”

“ _S’what these schematics say, yeah._ ”

Kris looked to his left and spotted a vent. He zipped to it and began crawling, but stopped when he overheard a conversation from below. He couldn’t see anything—he could just hear the conversation.

“Where’s the Nuform I asked for?” It sounded like Simon Krieger’s voice. 

“Uh… we’re trying to make more, but neither Wrighte nor Marsh left behind any notes.”

“And?”

“Well—I had heard that one canister of Nuform survived the, uh, incident on the bridge. Now, if we had access to that—”

“Don’t you think that if I had it I would give it to you?”

“Yes, Mr. Krieger, I just want to make it clear that without that canister, it will be impossible to hit the deadline—”

“ _Shut up._ ” A few beats of silence paused. Kris pressed his ear against the floor of the vent he stood on to listen. “I am doing _everything_ in my considerable power to find that canister. However, right now, it would help me for you to go back to your lab… _and do your damn job._ ”

“Someone’s coffee was spiked today…” Kris continued to crawl around the vents.

“ _So, you gonna tell me whose phone you’re looking for?_ ” The sudden voice frightened him.

“Tinkerer’s. Mind telling me why you’re, what, stalking me?”

“ _To protect you. You should feel honoured. I came outta retirement to watch your back._ ”

“Still can’t believe my dad’s the Prowler.”

“ _And I can’t believe my son’s risking his neck for a phone._ ” Kris dropped down to hanging lights. “ _Let’s get on with it. You’re close to the reactor prototype. Need to take these guys out._ ”

Kris glanced at one of the circuit boxes. He threw a mine and stalled for a few seconds. Three Roxxon agents decided to check on the vicinity, so he detonated it. Two decided to investigate, so he took out the third one that was left alone. He webbed the second last one to the lights and zipped to the last one, taking him down. 

“ _Nice work. Silo’s just on the other side of that blast shield. Use that terminal to open it up._ ”

“Aw, thanks.” Kris flipped over the table and typed away at the keyboard. He pressed enter, and the blast shield opened up. He zipped to the railing and spotted a small object below the fan at the lowest point of the area. It seemed to be the phone. 

He perched onto the wires that were connected to the reactor and took out two agents. He took out a third one, but wasn’t aware of the fact that someone saw him. He quickly turned invisible and zipped around. The sound of someone joining the stream entered his ears. It was Claude. “Hi, Claude.”

“ _Just here to make sure you’re not hurt, or—you know, dead._ ”

“Actually, got Bradley here helping me.”

“ _The subway worker guy?_ ”

“Yeah. Turns out, he’s my dad. _And_ turns out, he’s the Prowler.” The room slowly grew silent. The agents probably thought he ran, so he decided to take out one more agent on the highest level.

“ _Wait… *THE* Prowler? The thief who runs around in purple? AND he’s your *dad*?_ ”

“Former thief. We’re not partnering. Just a one-time thing.”

“ _Your dad, who was thought to be dead, is the Prowler. That’s… a lot, man. Like, a *LOT* a lot._ ”

“I know. Okay, just let me take out this dude, and… great! We’re done with this room.” Kris dropped down to the bottom of the reactor and glanced at the gears, then at the fan below.

“ _Be quick about this, son. I’m trying to shut down cameras and alarms to keep more of ‘em from coming. Break the wires above the fan, and it should stop._ ”

Kris pulled at the gears above, and it lifted the shield that revealed the wires. It slowly went back down, so he quickly pulled at it again and webbed it shut. “Now for the wires…” 

Kris webbed the wires and began pulling—it was a lot harder than he originally expected. With a little more force, he managed to rip the wires. The fan stopped, and Kris dropped down, picking up the phone. He pressed the off button. Nothing. He long-pressed the off button. Nothing. “Battery needs a charge, I guess…” Kris felt the buzz of bioelectricity flow from his torso to his fingertips. “Please don’t explode…”

He gently tapped the phone, and it turned on. Kris pumped his fist, and glanced back up before going back to the phone and entering the password. He turned on the gallery app to see a video that lasted at least twenty hours. That was probably the footage he needed. 

“ _Okay. Core dump’s a two person job. You start the override here—I’ll confirm it there. Step one in wiping Nuform from existence._ ”

“ _I have a slight bit of regret destroying the thing we made together. Do you?_ ”

Rebekka started to cough. She wiped the sweat from her forehead. “ _You seen me lately, right? Let’s make sure the world is slightly better after the Decimation period._ ”

Rebekka headed to the monitor next to the Nuform reactor. Lyte set the phone beside as she trained her eyes at her own monitor. “ _Okay, triggering override in three… two—_ ”

“ _Lyte?_ ” Lyte turned around. A force field of sorts formed, trapping Rebekka in with the Nuform. 

“ _That wasn’t me._ ”

Simon’s face flashed on the monitor Rebekka was working on. “ _Industrial sabotage, Reb, *really*?_ No one’s gonna care about a few sick people uptown… or two dead engineers. You’re just the cost of doing business.”

The shield that blocked the Nuform slid open, and Lyte ran to the force field and started banging on it furiously. “ _No! No, no, no!_ ”

“ _I can stop it, I can stop this!_ ” Rebekka took a step to the side and began pulling at the wires of the Nuform reactor.

“ _Reb! Reb, no!_ ” Lyte grabbed the monitor she was previously staring at and smashed it against the force field in an attempt to break her friend out of it.

“ _No… LYTE! DON’T LOOK!_ ”

The Nuform discharged, leaving a puff of bluish-black smoke and teal particles flying out. Lyte’s phone fell along with her from the force of the discharge, and she laid down, completely miserable and sobbing loudly as the alarm continued to blare.

“ _Someone else is in there. Find out who._ ”

A door full of Roxxon agents opened, and Lyte made a run for it, knocking the phone into the area he was in. The rest of the remaining footage was probably the same thing until the battery died, so Kris slid the phone in his gadget pocket and zipped to the Nuform reactor. He _needed_ to finish what they started. “Hey, dad. Could you unlock the reactor shielding from where you are?”

“ _Why? You got your phone, now let’s leave._ ”

“That reactor killed my friend. It needs to be shut down. Permanently.” Kris warily eyed the reactor as he continued walking. “I _need_ your help, dad… _please._ ” A few seconds of silence passed. “Uh… dad?” The shielding slowly opened.

“ _Okay. But stand back._ ”

“Thanks, dad.” Kris forced his hands against the reactor and began absorbing all of the Nuform energy with his bioelectricity. The sound of the energy discharging forced its way into his ears. “Just like the generator outside… only… huge…!”

“ _What are you doing?_ ”

The amount of energy absorbed forced him back, throwing him to the door. “ _Kristian. You alright? You gotta get out of there, kid. Can you move? Go down that hallway, now!_ ”

Kris staggered to get up as the electricity around him began discharging. It was like it was pulling him on one end, but he was also being pulled on the opposite end. Almost like a magnet being repelled and attracted everywhere. His beating heart slowly grew faster, and every step he took almost felt like he was being stabbed. The door opened, and the electricity started discharging around him, much more violent compared to before. Parts of the ceiling fell, but it was disintegrated almost instantly, and the walls around him were ripped out. “I… I don’t… I don’t feel great… it’s like it’s… tearing me—”

He dropped to his knees, causing the phone to drop out. Kris reached for it, but the electricity melted it. He watched as the remnants of the phone seep through the grate as he stood back up. The energy in him—it was forcing itself out of him, and he couldn’t hold it anymore. The energy around him discharged in a yellow, electric spiderweb.

“ _Kristian. Talk to me, kid. You alright?_ ”

“I… I feel like I was dropped out of a plane without a parachute…” Kris crawled up the wall, still clutching his side. He groaned as he steadied himself back into normal wall-crawling. “I really needed that phone. Now, what am I gonna do…?” 

“ _Come on, kid. I can’t get to you before Roxxon does._ ”

Kris zipped up the vent and spotted a Roxxon guard with a shield at the door. He seemed to be waiting for him. The guard smashed the shield on the ground. “Stand down! We’re taking you into custody!”

“ _They’ve got orders to capture you._ ”

Kris yanked the shield from his hands and threw it at him. “Why? What do they want?”

“ _Study you, interrogate you? Don’t know, don’t care; just don’t let them._ ”

Kris dodged a shield, but was parried, throwing him onto a wall. He dodged a bullet at a perfect time and webbed the shooter, zipping toward him and taking him out easily. He yanked two shields out of the Roxxon agents’ hands and threw it back at them. He got hit by a mine that rendered his bioelectricity unusable, but he shook the effects off and jumped, webbed the floor, and smashed it.

The door opened, and it was empty for a few seconds until Prowler decloaked, showing up by the door. “Let’s go—before more of ‘em show up.”

“Whoah. That was super cool cloaking tech!” Kris started dusting his hands and headed up to the door. “How does it—?” Roxxon agents began swarming the room they were in. “Work…”

“You take the left, I’ll take the right.” Prowler and Kris flipped into action. Kris yanked a shield out of an agent’s hands and threw it around, activating his bioelectricity and conducting it through his webbing, throwing it at a few Roxxon agents. Prowler had a shield materialize and charged at the agents. Kris had his bioelectricity flow at his feet as he jumped, bringing up the agents in his vicinity and allowing him to combat in the air. 

Kris bounced off a wall and onto an agent. He webbed the shoulders of said agent and purposefully fell on his back to kick the agent upward, allowing Prowler to jump in for a punch and grabbing him by the leg and slamming him to the ground. 

“H train’ll be passing by soon.”

“Why does _that_ matter?!” Kris shouted as he punched an agent and swing-kicked him toward a wall.

“Okay, train’s almost here. Get ready!” He shouted.

“Through the wall, go!” Kris zipped into the hole in the wall and landed by the windows with a train full of passengers. He was pulled up by his father, and he removed his mask. Kris did the same, including his hood. “You need to lay low. Don’t trust anybody, and _don’t_ take off that mask. Wait ‘til Roxxon finds a better target.”

“I can’t lay low. I still need to find Lyte…” Kris headed forward to be able to leave the tunnel earlier.

His father put two and two together and came to a conclusion. “Your friend’s the Tinkerer…” Kris glanced at him, turned back, and nodded. “No wonder you care so much about this.”

“It’s not just _that._ I’m…” Kris wracked his brain for any other excuses to not seem very one-sided to his father. “Protecting New York is my job.”

(REDACTED) placed a hand on his shoulder and crouched. Kris did the same, because they were about to hit their heads on a chunk of wall. “ _Use_ Lyte. Tell her you wanna join the Underground.”

“You just told me don’t take off the mask—”

His father clicked his tongue. “Don’t tell her you’re Spider-Man! Go to her as a _friend._ ” The both of them stood back up.

Kris shook his head. “No, she’s too smart for that.”

“You’d be surprised. People get stupid when they care about someone.” He turned around and started walking. “Like _you’re_ being stupid now.”

“If I told her the truth—”

“I told your grandfather and aunt the truth. Thought they’d have my back, hoped they would, being my father and sister and all. Instead, they cut me out. If I’d kept my mouth shut, maybe I’d still have a family. You know what you have to do.” He activated his mask and grappled away. 

Kris paused for a few seconds, then wore his mask and turned back to the light at the end of the tunnel and crouched. He glanced back again, and swung to the nearest building, pulling up his hood.


	54. FEAST Shutdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris decided to check on the neighborhood before calling Lyte.

“Okay… I should call Lyte? No, no, I’ve got time to check on the city. Yeah. Right after I do something.”

~~~

“Hey, so, um, Isabelle? I’ve been meaning to ask you somethin’,” Kris said, descending from the ceiling in classic spider-like fashion. She screamed a little from the sudden drop-in, she almost flipped the pan. Especially with Kris’ new spider-suit. 

“Oh my God—I will never get used to that.” She inhaled deeply and sighed. A few seconds of silence passed, and she started talking. “Alright. What’s the thing you need?”

Kris shrugged a little, dropping down from the web and standing up. “So, uh, did you know about my dad’s… job, and… how he’s alive—?” 

“Where’d you get that?”

“But… what’s so bad about that? I mean, I haven’t really seen him in a long time…” 

“Kristian,” she said firmly. She seemed serious about it. Kris assumed his aunt told them about it, and they hid that fact from him for a long time. He sighed, his eyes still darting away from her. “I want you to stay away from him. All of us do.”

“But why—?”

“Just—drop it.”

“Okay, then…” Kris awkwardly shuffled out of the kitchen and into his room before he slid the window open, closed it behind him, and ran up the wall and began swinging. “FEAST North is shut down… It’s _way_ too cold for people to be out on the street…”

~~~

Kris dropped to the roof of the building and opened the door on top, changing into his civilian clothes. That way, he’d have a better idea on what’s going on at FEAST. He whipped out his phone and called Claude. “Hey, Claude. Gonna talk to Gloria about FEAST. As me, not… you know what I mean.”

“ _Undercover… by *not* being undercover. I like it._ ”

He spotted her stirring up what seemed to be soup. “Hey, Gloria. What’s going on? Why’s everyone outside?”

Gloria grabbed a bowl and set it by the portable stove in front of her. “A pipe burst. We cleaned it up, but the city won’t let us re-open ‘til the plumbing’s fixed.” She sighed deeply. “I’ve had it repaired three times, but it keeps breaking down.”

Kris paused for a brief moment, thinking. “Is it possible to send the people to other FEAST shelters?”

“They’re at capacity. Everyone here, they’ve got nowhere else to go. ‘Specially after the blip.” Kris cringed slightly at the mention of the blip, but kept his cool. “We’re trying to keep people warm and fed, but in this weather?”

“Hm… anything I could do to help?” 

“Yeah, actually. Could you check on the people camped in the park? They don’t always open up to management.”

“Happy to.” Kris slowly started heading toward the park beside.

“Then get back to your vacation. You work too hard,” She called.

“Yeah, yeah…” He picked up the pace and jogged around. He spotted two people struggling to set up a canopy tent. He headed toward the lady. “I’ll get that. If you don’t mind…” Kris helped lift the pole.

“Thanks.” She slowly got up, wiping her hands on her pants. “I’m Steff, Gloria’s girlfriend. I’m volunteering at FEAST, or, what’s left of it…”

“Yeah, um, so, Gloria said the city won’t let you guys re-open the building…?” 

“They’re being _unusually_ stubborn, and they showed up so fast to condemn us; less than an hour after the flood.” A few seconds of silence between the two passed, and she shook her head. “I sound like I should be wearing a tinfoil hat, huh?”

Kris shook his head, somewhat understanding her. Especially with Osborn and Krieger. “No, that’s weird.”

“Well, listen, thanks for your help.”

Kris nodded and started walking around for more people to talk to, to get to the bottom of whatever happened in the shelter. He spotted a man struggling to lift the box onto the table, so he jogged over to him and helped him. “Here. I got you.”

“Thanks, kid. Was trying to keep this stuff dry. I was so worried we’d get robbed, then the flood happened. I even bought a knife.”

Kris raised both eyebrows, surprised. “Why… did you, um… think that?”

“Caught some guys casing the place. Chased ‘em off, but they just came back. Then they up ‘n’ disappeared right before the flood.”

“Huh, well, let me know if you need anythin’ else…” Kris slowly and awkwardly walked out, turning around and walking backward for a brief moment. “And be careful with that knife.” Kris headed out to the two ladies that seemed to be talking about the city with a bowl of soup on their hands and standing beside the fire. “Hey, um, sorry to intrude on your conversation and stuff—but did I overhear you talking about someone from the city?”

“Yeah. ‘Bout a month ago. Shelter put in a new water heater, inspector came by, and said we were in good shape. Then all this went down.”

“You think he’d catch that,” He said. The two ladies nodded. “Uh—stay warm?”

~~~

Kris dropped onto a pole. “Anyone watching the stream, you busy?” 

“ _Doing our homework. Why?_ ” All three answered.

Kris groaned. He’d have to catch up with them if they wanted to do their homework together over a call. “Okay, okay, so—there were a bunch of guys casing FEAST right before it flooded, and the city swooped in… _suspiciously_ fast to condemn the building, and, an inspector said the pipes were fine right before one burst.”

“ _You think sabotage?_ ”

“Definitely. Following the pipes, right now.” Kris scanned the water tower, and followed the pipes to a storm drain by the hudson. He flipped over the railings and onto the rocks that were by the wall and inspected the storm drain. 

“Ugh… trash. No wonder the pipe burst.” He pulled the trash out with his webbing. “So… I cleared the trash, but I don’t think the water’s running.”

“ _Gotta find the pump station,_ ” Gwen answered.

“How’d you know that?” Kris scanned the pipes and followed them toward the pump station. 

“ _Teacher decided the class did a clean-up-the-rivers project in fourth grade._ ”

“So they’re sparkling clean, now?”

“ _Well—clean-er. Do *not* go in the Hudson._ ”

~~~

Kris zipped to the ledge of a building and paused. “These guys’re definitely the ones I fought at the power station.”

“ _Okay—I get the bank heist and the power station, but why mess with FEAST?_ ”

Kris webbed a thug to the wall. “Let’s find out…” He turned invisible, grabbed a crate, and smashed it onto a brute. He grabbed a shocked thug’s head and shot a web, pulling him toward the ground and knocking him out. He jogged to the pump and turned it on, but nothing happened. “Hey, clean-up-the-rivers-girl. Pump’s pressure is in the red.”

“ _Looks like they messed with the valves… you’d have to reset them individually before turning on the pump,_ ” Gwen answered.

“Oh, and guys, so the thugs that were talkin’ ‘bout their boss about how he wants to run crime in Harlem. Drugs, protection—you name it.” Kris swung toward one of the valves.

Lystihea groaned. “ _Ugh, can’t people just visit for the food and museums, and *not* make a mess?_ ”

“ _Oh, non-Spider-Man-related question. Didja start on “Jane Eyre” for Ms. Malher’s class?_ ” Claude asked.

“Didn’t even _start_ on the homework since school let out.”

“ _Dude, it’s _wild._ We got to the wedding scene, and it—” Claude imitated the sound of a blown mind. “Can’t put it down.”_

_“Ah—dude, spoilers!” Kris cupped his ears, despite the fact he wouldn’t be able to block it out either way._

_“ _Ah, yep, nope, sorry ‘bout that. You have *all* our undivided attention…!_ ” _

_“ _As soon as we finish this chapter. Five minutes!_ ”_

_Kris groaned as he grabbed the valve. The groaning was replaced with a small scream. Touching the ice somewhat felt like touching dry ice, but not really. “ _Cold!_ Cold! Blek!” He finally managed to turn the valve and kept shaking his hands. “Really need to install that heater…”_

_He spun on his heel, started running, and leapt to a building and started wall-running. When he reached the edge of the building, he bounced off of it and zipped to the building in front of him, scaled the building, and launched himself off of a ledge, diving straight onto a building beside, where the second valve was located._

_He braced himself from the cold, but he still flinched by just one finger touching the cold surface of the valve. Kris fake cried as he sniffled loudly, turning the valve as fast as he could. “ _Why_ does the pipe burst have to happen in December?!”_

_The water pressure in the pipes were too high, and water bursted out of the pipes, causing Kris to start screaming. He quickly webbed it up, but water kept bursting out. “I need my jacket after this…”_

_He glanced at the pressure meter and saw that when he webbed it up, the pressure was still high, and he could see it slowly decreasing. He quickly webbed it just as it reached the middle, and it didn’t burst out on him again. He folded his arms and started rubbing his arms violently. He _hated_ when he’s _too_ cold. Not to mention the chattering teeth, the shaky legs, and the frigid movements he gets when under very cold conditions._

_He refrained from swinging, fearing that if he did so, the cold wind would slap him in the face and throw him off. Instead, he slowly walked to the next valve. It wasn’t too far, so that was a good thing. He just had to get through the fact that it was December, and he was blasted with water just a few seconds ago._

_~~~_

_Kris slowly twisted the valve. It was somewhat more tolerable compared to earlier, so he was fine with it. The cold was slightly more bearable, so he started swinging, but not as fast as normal. “Hey, Claude, can you call the city? Get ‘em to send someone to FEAST North and declare it uncondemned.”_

_“ _One official-sounding call from a high school student pretending to be an adult, coming right up._ ”_

_~~~_

_Kris dropped onto a light post to see more thugs. “Return of the goon squad… need to get rid of these guys.” He zipped to a thug and smacked him over the head, knocking him out. He jogged to a wall and crawled toward the two thugs and webbed the both of them up. He pulled the smaller steel construction platform, knocking out a duo. He took out a thug and zipped to the top of the building._

_Kris flipped off of the building and webbed a thug to the lights. He shot a remote mine at a circuit box and stalled for time until two people investigated the vicinity. He detonated the mine and took down the remaining goon. “Hey guys, I just overheard—their boss is in the Raft.”_

_“ _Whoah. Brightside: maybe we can cut off however he’s communicating with people on the outside. We’ll look into it. _”___

___Kris jogged to the pump and pressed a button. “Water coming on… now.”_ _ _

___“ _Great timing. City inspector just reopened FEAST should be able to reopen soon._ ”_ _ _

___“Cool. Headed there now—gonna make sure Gloria’s got everything she needs.” He launched off of a pole and dove._ _ _

___“ _Oh, and the reasons for the boss of this whole shady operation to go after FEAST,_ ” Claude said. Kris swung to a traffic light and swung off of it._ _ _

___“ _One: the land it’s on? Prime real estate,_ ” Lysithea said._ _ _

___“ _Two: having a shelter in Harlem reduces crime. Like, a lot,_ ” Gwen continued._ _ _

___“And if he wants to be a crime boss, he actually needs crime to boss around…” Kris leapt off of a building and dropped to the roof of the FEAST shelter._ _ _

___“ _Exactly. But, we stopped him. Go team._ ”_ _ _

___Kris dropped off of the roof and next to the canopy tent Gloria was under. “Hey there—”_ _ _

___“Oh! Spider-Man, hi. Always happy to meet one of you guys.”_ _ _

___“Oh, uh…” Kris cleared his throat and tried his best to deepen it dramatically. “Yeah—listen, I was fixing the water system, and I noticed your shelter was affected. Should be fixed now, though.”_ _ _

___“That was _you?_ ” She asked. Kris nodded. “Inspector just came by, said we’re good to open.”_ _ _

___“Everyone can go inside.”_ _ _

___“Spider-Man, you’ve got perfect timing. Don’t know how much longer we would’ve held out. Thank you.”_ _ _

___Kris nodded and swung off onto the roof of the building, whipped out his phone, laid on his back, and called Gloria. “Hey, Gloria! It’s Kris. So, uh, I heard FEAST North is open again.”_ _ _

___“ _We had a little help—Spider-Man, if you could believe it. Thanks for stopping by. People in the park said you helped a lot._ ”_ _ _

___“Happy to.”_ _ _

___“ _Now, get back to your winter break. We’ll see you when school starts back up._ ”_ _ _

___Kris sat upright and stood up, wiping the snow that bunched up a little and running off. “Alright—bye.” He swung to the top of another building. “Think I should try to call Lyte now, and get her to let me in the Underground.” He turned to Lyte’s phone number and decided to call her._ _ _

___“ _Hey, Kris. You okay?_ ”_ _ _

___“Uh, yeah, why’d you say that?” He laid down, relaxing himself._ _ _

___“ _Oh, uh, I saw the news about your cousin’s rally._ ”_ _ _

___“We’re fine. D’you have time to get coffee, maybe?” As soon as he said that, he could faintly hear an unamused ‘what’._ _ _

___“ _I can… make time. There’s a place on Edison, near Fisk Tower. They don’t do foam art, but people don’t take pictures of their lattes, so… worth it._ ”_ _ _

___“Okay. Meet you there.”_ _ _


	55. Underground Undercover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris called Lyte out to get some coffee, in hopes of convincing her to let him in the Underground, just as his father had said.

“I was really glad you called. Really needed a break.” Lyte sipped on her coffee.

Kris traced the rim of the mug with his finger, slightly intimidated, knowing that any wrong movements in the Underground, he’d be found out, and his mission was done for. “From what?”

“Oh, just…” Lyte tilted her head slightly. “Stuff.”

Kris decided he should spill a little about what he found out. He took a deep breath, and exhaled. “So, uh, I went to your folks’ old shop. Thought you might be there. Looked like there might have been some kind of fight just before I got there… I went inside, looked around… found out about Rebekka.” Lyte looked down. Kris inhaled deeply. “I’m so sorry.”

“What else did you find out?”

Kris lightly tapped the tip of all five fingers together. “I wanna help you. I really do. But you gotta talk to me.”

Lyte placed a hand on the nape of her neck. “I’m really sorry Ivy got hurt at her rally. If that stupid Kid-Arachnid hadn’t shown up, everyone would have been fine.” Kris slightly opened his mouth to say ‘Spider-Man’, but that might just make her suspect him, so he bit his tongue. She leaned toward the back of her chair. “ _Please_ don’t try to talk me out of this. I know what I’m doing.”

“Okay.”

“Good. So, that’s my big secret. That’s why I’ve been so busy. What’s your excuse?”

Kris gripped the handle of the mug tightly. “Uh… school… volunteering at FEAST…”

Lyte didn’t seem amused. “You’re _always_ busy with stuff like that. What’s the _real_ reason?”

Kris shook his head. “The real reason is… I’ve been taking on a lot more responsibilities than I can handle a lot more, recently. Made me push my friends away. But I’m here to fix that.” He took a sip of coffee and paused. “Maybe I can join your… club? Crew? Team?”

“Uh… I don’t know.” Lyte’s eyes darted away. 

“You know, Reb was… she was the best. I get why you’re doing this. If you want my help, I’m all in. If not… no worries. Your secret’s safe with me.”

“You’re a good friend, Kris.” A few seconds of silence passed, and she stood up. “Okay. Let’s go.”

“ _Where?_ ”

~~~

“Uh—you _know_ I’m not good with heights, right?” Kris asked, closing the door behind him.

“You’ll be fine. I’ll be watching.” Kris glanced around at the environment and turned back to Lyte, now clad in her Tinkerer outfit, aside from the mask and pulled up hood. “You’ll need to prove yourself to the Underground. I’ll show you how when we get to Fisk Tower.”

“You’re set up in Kingpin’s office space? Awesome,” Kris commented as he climbed the stairs with Lyte.

“After he went to prison, the feds seized his property. They hadn’t gotten around to selling it, so we moved in.” Lyte climbed up a wall. Kris did the same, trying his best to seem like the simple act of climbing made him tired.

“How’d you get involved in all this?” Kris asked, fake panting. He jogged to the pipes Lyte vaulted over, and Kris climbed over instead. “The Underground, the Tinkerer…?”

““Tinkerer” is a nod to my role. I built everything: the masks, the weapons…”

“Programmable matter?” Kris asked, still following Lyte.

“Right. The Underground tried to rob my grandfather’s shop and saw what I was working on. We made a deal.” Lyte leapt off of a part of the building and onto the lower part. 

“I know you’re after Krieger and all, but what do _they_ get out of it? Besides the guns.” Kris asked, climbing up the turbine box.

“Notoriety. They want to be so well-known, they can get away with anything.”

“And you’re good with that?” 

“I can’t take on Roxxon alone. Come on.” Lyte led him to a crane that, from where Kris stood, was a gap that was possible to jump to Fisk Tower if you gained enough speed. Or if you just had really good lower body strength. Lyte pointed at the crane, then at the balcony of Fisk Tower. “You need to jump from the crane to the balcony. Show them you’re fearless.”

“What did I just say about my fear of heights—wait, did you say they’re _watching?_ ” Kris faked nervousness, by glancing around, eyes darting everywhere, shaky legs, and whatnot. 

“Through the windows. You _have_ to do this.” Kris awkwardly followed Lyte, climbing up to a platform where you could walk on the top of the jib. “Come on. You’ll be fine.”

“Oh, good lord…” Kris muttered, grabbing the jib and awkwardly crawling with all four legs. Despite being able to conquer his fear of heights through being Kid-Arachnid, but he could give it away if he moved too fast, which would be unusual, especially after establishing that he was still “afraid” of heights. And if he moved too slow, that would probably deem him unworthy of being in the Underground. But that was probably his paranoia. It’s true that he’s played many video games that had these kinds of missions, but that didn’t make him any less nervous. 

The crane slowly began to creak, and he gripped on the top of the jib even tighter as he moved toward the end of the working arm. He slowly stood up and jumped toward the balcony, faking the strength of his legs by hopping. To him, it’s hopping, at least. He dropped near the wall, but his arms were thankfully on the railings. Lyte helped him up, and Kris tried his best to pant. He got up as Lyte walked toward the door. Kris quickened his pace and the two of them did their old handshake. “You still remembered?!”

“No way!” Lyte opened the door. “So, uh, am I officially in the club now?”

“Sure. But watch your back. These guys take a while to warm up to new people.” Lyte led him through Fisk Tower. It was a lot different from what he remembered—in fact, it looked like it hadn’t even been repaired since Peter took down Fisk last year or so. “Here it is, where the plan comes together.”

Kris glanced at where Lyte was, and she was in a hallway, lit with purple lighting and a skull at the end. “So, your plan… how does Nuform fit in? Krieger’s saying you stole a shipment.”

“I stole one canister. I’m making some adjustments—” Judging from the voice, Lyte activated her helmet. Kris was trying to contain his geekiness from coming out, in an attempt to keep his cool. “Don’t worry about it. Take today to settle in.”

“Right. How does that mask work? Got a voice synthesizer, like Batman?” Kris quickly slapped a hand over his mouth. Lyte didn’t answer the question, thankfully, and instead, just shook her head and made an inaudible noise, because of the voice synthesizer. It almost sounded like chuckling.

“Good. You’re back. Gavin needs you—”

Lyte raised a hand. “Not now. We’ve got a new recruit.”

The member clicked her tongue and walked away. “Fine.”

“You— _built—_ these?” Kris could picture Lyte’s worried face when she heard those three words. “Okay, I’m trying not to get all crazy and geeky, whatever, but this tech is—it’s amazing! Look at that sword! And the guns? And the weapons?!”

“Don’t mind him, he’s just being his normal geeky self.” He heard Lyte say as he was freaking out over the sword that he could hold.

“This is—this is like a lightsaber! AND it can fit in a pocket! If it was smaller, that is. But I just—I just can’t even believe it! This is, like, a _huge_ upgrade from that energy converter that we did!” Kris placed the sword back on the pedestal. “Programmable matter is _cool!_ ”

“New enemies, new solutions.”

“You mean, Spider-Man, right?”

“This week’s most unwelcome surprise.” Lyte turned to Kris, who was still acting like a child in a candy store. “Kris, I need to deal with something. Hang here, okay?”

Kris was snapped out of his trance and shook his head. “Oh, yeah, sure.” Thanks to that, he remembered why he was here—to look for the Nuform. He walked around the old server room, now replaced with Underground tech. He snorted when he saw the image of Fisk, now decorated with a moustache, thicker eyebrows, a goatee, and blackened teeth. “Fisk would _not_ like this…”

“Heh. Guy had secrets and trap doors all over this place. Cracked ‘em all. We own Fisk Tower now,” A member of the Underground explained.

Kris nodded silently. “Secret rooms… good place to hide a deadly fuel source…” He glanced at his left and felt a small tingle on his spine. They were masks from the Demons. He picked up a mask and twisted it around his hand. “This stuff from… Martin Li’s gang?”

“Yeah. Trophies. Gotta establish dominance, if we’re gonna replace Fisk and run New York.”

“Mind if I keep one of ‘em? Just for keepsake,” Kris asked the Underground member who answered him.

“Hah. _No._ ”

“Alright, then…” he shrugged, putting back the mask. “These guys are well trained if they took down the Demons… wonder where they train…”

Kris glanced at the projection that had the Underground on the news. It was the bridge attack. “Bridge attack’s giving the Underground a lot of press…”

A fellow Underground member beside him turned to him. “Gotta grow that rep. Ask me, we should be focusin’ on PR, not lugging around this Nuform crap.”

“Okay… thanks. “Lugging it around”… maybe they brought it here.” Kris spun on his heel to see a table full of money. Bags, boxes, crates, you name it, it’s there. “That’s a lot of cash…”

“Even more downstairs. Old man’s basically funding us. Whether he likes it or not.”

More downstairs. That seemed promising. They might be using Fisk’s secret room, and on the ground level. Kris saw a group of Underground leave the door, and he followed. He whipped out his phone and texted Claude. “ _I’m inside..._ ”

“ _What’s the plan?_ ” Kris sent a shrugging emoji. “ _Dude. Time to suit up._ ”

“Who’re you texting?” 

Kris jumped at the sudden sentence. “Uh, Ivy,” he blurted out. Kris awkwardly shrugged. “Yeah. She needs me at home.”

Lyte didn’t look amused whatsoever. “Right now? Really?”

“Yeah, I mean, her wrist _is_ in a cast—and Nico’s getting groceries and stuff, and I need to help with dinner.”

“Did you tell her I’m—?” Kris shook his head. “Thanks.” Lyte hopped to the top of the railing and pointed at the side. “You can head out that way. See you back here soon?”

Kris nodded. “Definitely.” With that, Lyte flipped off of the railing and dropped through the huge hole that Peter must have left. Kris backed off from the railing and headed toward the opposite of the direction Lyte pointed him toward. Kris glanced back at the surroundings to make sure no one was looking at him, and he grabbed the door handle and closed it behind him.

~~~

“Let’s see if they keep their secrets downstairs.” Kris slung his backpack around him and zipped toward a vent and started crawling. “I’m in the vents,” he said.

“ _Nice! Didja find out where they’re hiding the Nuform?_ ” Claude asked.

“Not yet, but I _did_ saw Lyte head toward the basement, so I’m gonna follow her.” Kris glanced around at his surroundings, then continued.

“ _Hey, when you’re crawling through vents, you ever feel like you’re in a movie and start humming suspenseful music to yourself?_ ” Claude asked. 

“ _And then think about getting caught and put into a cell suspended over an alligator pit, and then making a bomb out of gum wrappers to escape?_ ” Gwen didn’t seem as enthusiastic as Claude when she said it. 

“Wait, what? No!”

“ _Cool. Just curious._ ” Kris sighed as he dropped onto the rafters and began taking out a group of Underground members in the room.

~~~

“I swear, I keep getting these guys… why can’t I get something more… interesting?” Kris commented as he wiped his hands. “Okay—still no sign of Lyte.”

“ _She must have gone somewhere…_ ” Gwen said.

“ _Oh, I read this interview with Fisk where he said he loved, and I quote, “art with a purpose”,_ ” Lysithea commented.

“What does _that_ mean?” Kris swung around the room, looking for an object that seemed to have a said ‘purpose’. 

The sound of a chair creaking came from Claude’s end of the call. He probably leaned back on his chair. “ _I don’t know, but they also *did* say they found a bunch of secret passages in his tower hidden behind art, so…_ ”

“Yeah, gotcha… I’m looking…” Kris’ attention was caught by a statue of a samurai around the middle of the area. Something about it felt very—odd. Suspicious, even. He hopped to the statue and crawled around it, poking around. Literally. Until he discovered something—the hand rotated. He discovered that when he poked the sword, and it lowered. He flipped off of the statue and pulled the sword with his webbing, causing it to rotate. 

“Ooh! Secret stairs—my favourite thing to do in Minecraft worlds… singleplayer.” Kris carelessly swung his arms around as he walked down the stairs. He pressed the button that seemed to have activated the elevator, because it started going down.

“ _Lots of mob bosses have secret exits like this. Wonder if Fisk planned to use it when Peter came for him._ ”

Kris, bored of the elevator ride, decided it would be a good time to lay down. Which is what he did, his hands behind his head and all. “He should’ve built a faster elevator. Maybe he would’ve gotten away—”

“ _Let’s not start giving the supervillains ideas, cool?_ ” Gwen interrupted.

“Gwen, you just interrupted me—anyway, as I was _about_ to say, he would’ve gotten away, and maybe would’ve lifted his spirits a lot faster.” Kris did the finger guns, even if it looked weirder if it was a hand pointed at the camera. Claude started howling with laughter, Lysithea groaned, and Gwen smacked her head against the table. 

“...Did you hear all that noise in the atrium? Must be a hell of a training exercise today.”

Kris instinctively kicked up and turned invisible, expecting any thugs. Instead, there was a door in front of him, and it was closed. And the voices seemed to slowly grow fainter.

“—I know you don’t wanna talk to her about it, but three people got sick after the bridge. Three!” Kris zipped to the ceiling and crawled, following their conversation. “We know how dangerous Nuform is—”

“You knew this would be dangerous. It’s the deal we made.”

“But if we’re getting sick, too…”

“You can’t hack it, you can get out. The Underground doesn’t have time for weaklings.”

Kris prepared himself to be noticed when he saw the circular door of a vault. “You hearing this? Nuform’s making the Underground sick, too.”

“ _They’re so… callous about it._ ”

Kris crawled through the circular door of the vault and moved to the top of a box. 

“You moved the Nuform?” Lyte asked, her hands pressed against the table. The group of three Kris followed reached the table. “ _Safely?_ ”

Kris sighed. “Claude, they moved the Nuform.”

“We’re not sure if the canister is safe—it was hot, buzzing, like it’s unstable.”

Lyte sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. She clicked her tongue. “It’s that Kid-Arachnid; his powers messed with the structure. Tell everyone not to touch it.”

Kris focused on the map that laid in front of the group, but the members obstructed the view. “Their hideouts—Nuform’s gotta be in one of ‘em.”

“ _We need a clearer picture; then we can narrow it down,_ ” Lysithea said.

With that, Kris felt the familiar buzz of his camouflage surge his body as he zipped to a ceiling that was just above them. He descended down—which, he was glad his invisibility also affected his webbing. “We don’t know enough about this stuff! What it is, where it came from—”

Kris awkwardly spun around as he placed his hand on the crate below him. He just managed to position himself to get a better picture, when Lyte said, “My friend and I created Nuform.” He glanced at her, then back at the map, taking a picture with a simple double-tap of his temple. “Chief chemist. And Roxxon killed her.”

Kris was about to lift himself back up, when he felt the paper his finger touched didn’t unstick from it. His heart dropped. He repeatedly flicked his wrist to try and get it off. He kept trying his best to remember that he had to relax to unstick from things, but the whole situation just dialed his nervousness up to eleven. He flicked it away—but Lyte noticed it as the paper drifted down to the ground. Kris quickly but quietly slapped a hand on his mouth and nostril, to try and muffle the sound of his breathing, _or_ the wind. 

Their eyes locked for a fleeting moment, but all he was glad about was that he had invisibility. He bit his tongue in anticipation when she opened her mouth. 

“I won’t stop until Roxxon’s _gone._ ” Lyte placed the paper back on the crate and turned to the others. “Are you with me?”

The three Underground members turned to each other, then back to Lyte. “You _know_ we are.”

“Good.” The mask materialized on her face, and she spun on her heel, walking toward the door. “I need power. Generators, car batteries, whatever you can find. Bring them to the theatre…”

Kris slinked upward with his webbing and dropped, turning off his invisibility and looking around. His spider-sense suddenly tingled, but he didn’t know why. It wasn’t until—

“Kid—”

“Uh—I actually legally changed my name! It’s Spider-Man, now!” Kris said as he dodged the sword that was used against him, which destroyed the table. What he _didn’t_ expect, was that the sword extended its reach and clamped itself to him. Kris tried to pry it away from him during the brief moment of shock, but the thug used it to throw him across the room. 

Kris felt the bioelectricity starting to act up on his chest, and it caused him to move without even thinking of doing it—he dashed toward the sword wielder, smacked the thug to the ground, and with both hands, threw her across the room and toward the cash. He glanced at his hands as the cash around him started falling down around him.

“ _Whoah! Is that a new move?!_ ” Gwen and Lysithea both exclaimed.

“I don’t even know what I did, but it worked, I guess!” Kris dodged a bullet and shot a web at the shooter before zipping toward the shooter and kicking them in the face.

“ _Venom Dash! That’s the move name!_ ”

“Ah—what is this, Pokemon?!” Kris exclaimed as he used his bioelectricity and punched a thug in the face. 

“ _You do you, we’re gonna research the map you found, see what dots we can connect._ ” 

“Cool. I’mma keep doing what I do best—and what I do best is… _not_ quipping! Because that’s the other Spider-Man’s job!” Kris dodged another bullet and took out another thug. He kicked himself off of an Underground thug’s shoulders and webbed the floor close to him, kicking his face. A thug with a sword grasped him, throwing him across the room. Kris shot a hologram drone and it took care of the job for him. 

Kris opened the door Lyte and her fellow Underground members left through, and he jogged to the button to open the door before going on a full-on sprint through the corridors. “Hey, so Lyte mentioned a theatre. Which one?”

“ _A theater, huh?_ ” Kris could almost see Claude smirking.

“ _Claude, no._ ”

“ _Oh, God, please no, why._ ”

“That’s… dramatic.” Claude chuckled a little, then stopped. “Okay, but for real, that’d be the Gem Theatre.”

“Sounds like that’s where she hid the Nuform, so that’s my next stop.” Kris vaulted over the boxes and zipped through the hole in the wall and zipped through a small door that lead to the outside.


	56. Curtain Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris followed what Lyte had said earlier about meeting up at the Gem Theatre... as Spider-Man. And in classic Spider-Man fashion, nothing goes well. At all.

Kris flipped onto a building near the Gem Theatre and placed a hand on his thigh. He observed as the Underground members leapt out of a trap door that acted as a barrier. “You were right, Claude… Underground’re everywhere.”

“ _You might say they’re overground?_ ”

“Oof. Keep working on that,” Kris said as if he hadn’t made the joke multiple times before. He flipped off of the building and close to the barrier. “Barrier’s electrified…” He reached out a hand to touch it in hopes it wouldn’t be as bad as he expected. Instead, he was greeted with a sharp sting on his hand that sent shivers all over him. “ _Ow!_ ” He shook his hand. “And not friendly…”

“ _Your suit says that was THREE HUNDRED kilojoules—how was that just “ow”???_ ” Lysithea commented.

Kris tilted his head to the left and shrugged. “Benefits of bioelectricity, I guess.” He stood up and spun on his heel. He figured there would be snipers near the top, so he headed toward the top of the tallest building in the area. Nada. He glanced at his surroundings and spotted a generator, but no one guarding it or whatnot. 

He flipped off of the railing he stood on and zipped back to it, launching off of it and landing close to the generator. He placed both hands at the generator and drained it with his bioelectricity. Kris leapt off of the building and into a group of thugs, where he shot all three of his holo-drones before dropping. 

He started off with a simple swing kick and a few punches. While in the air, he felt the bioelectricity form itself around him as he dashed toward a thug and threw it at the group of enemies, stunning them. 

With that, Kris drained another generator. He dove backward as he swung to the second generator and took care of the team surrounding the generator. He swing-kicked a thug and punched him with his Venom Strike. He kicked up a thug and pulled him down with his webbing. He flipped over a thug and slapped a remote mine on their back and detonated it. “Like your new place—any phantoms?”

He chuckled to himself with that quip and drained the third generator. Now, for the last one. Kris zipped across to the last generator, where he silently took out two snipers and a thug before going in to fight. He grabbed a thug’s shoulders, turned on his bioelectricity, and threw him across toward a group of Underground members, stunning them. Kris drained the last generator, and the barrier was out of power. 

Kris zipped to the barrier, felt the bioelectricity in his fist, jumped, and smashed through it by webbing the ground and pulling. He called it Venom Smash. “ _That… was the way to the main auditorium. Now it’s blocked._ ”

“Great. Fantastic. All the synonyms for good… if it weren’t for me being Spider-Man!” Kris sauntered toward the elevator, glanced at the pulley, and pulled it to lift the elevator. He webbed the pulley and started crawling.

“ _Hey, I was thinking… what if you told Lyte you’re Spider-Man?_ ” Gwen asked, purely out of curiosity.

““Yo, Lyte, not only did I lie about joining your club, but I’m also the guy trying to stop you”?” Kris said as he crawled through the elevator shaft and into the main auditorium.

“ _We’ll work on the delivery,_ ” Claude said. Kris glanced at the giant, armored silo that was placed in the middle. It seemed promising. He flipped off of the wall he perched to and jogged to the monitor at the side of the silo. “ _Really feeling like my gaming rig is underpowered, right now._ ”

“Yeah. Lyte’s going full-on supervillain lair, here.” Kris glanced at the silo after staring at the monitor for a few seconds. He pulled off his hood. “You see this giant armored container?”

“ _Totally not sus,_ ” Claude casually commented. “ _Think the Nuform’s in there?_ ”

“Did—did you just use an Among Us term?” He followed the cables and punched a generator. “So, why’d you think telling Lyte I’m Spider-Man a good idea? Don’t you think she might react… badly?”

“ _Let’s make a pros and cons list._ ” Kris groaned, annoyed with the pros and cons list. “ _Pro: She’s your best friend. Besides us._ ”

“Con: She’s the Tinkerer.” Kris shot a tether web and connected a relay node to another relay node. 

“ _Pro: Talking to her is easier than sneaking around behind her back._ ”

“Con: Peter was super clear: don’t tell _anyone_ who you are.” Kris activated a generator and shot a tether web at it and connected the said generator to the other relay node.

“ _You told us—_ ”

“No. You found that out yourselves. Claude was in my room and I didn’t know, and Lysithea and Gwen actually managed to connect the dots.”

“ _Maybe if she knows it’s you she’s fighting, she might rethink the whole Tinkerer thing._ ”

“That’s… okay, I guess that’s right.” Kris pulled the sheets that covered the generator from the relay node and shot another tether web, connecting the two and powering it up with his Venom Strike. He turned to the last generator, which was in the ground or so. He performed a Venom Smash and it powered the last generator. “Sounds promising. Gotta check Lyte’s computer.”

Kris ran to the generator and pressed a key on the keyboard, which opened the silo. “Alright, what’re you up to, Lyte…?” He glanced at the hologram projection. “Lyte’s pumping energy into the Nuform… making it unstable like Venom Strike did…”

“ _Which exploded the bridge,_ ” Gwen said.

“ _What, does she want to blow up the theater…?_ ” Lysithea asked.

Kris took a closer look at the hologram, and a building formed. “Not the theatre… Roxxon Plaza.”

“ _Whoah, what?! That’s—how could she—?_ ”

“It’s not open yet, so there’d be no casualties,” Kris interrupted. “But I can’t let her do it… I’m taking the Nuform.” He zipped up to the top of the silo, but it wouldn’t budge at all. He could sense Underground entering. “Come on, come on, come on…!”

“He’s in here, somewhere!”

Kris descended from the ceiling in classic Spider-Man fashion. “Gotta get the Nuform… after I take down her purple glow stick army.”

“ _Just to put it out there: what if Lyte’s right, and this is the best way to stop Roxxon from biggering?_ ” Gwen considered the thought carefully. It could cost a company millions, but the company was also not that great.

Kris tapped an Underground member’s shoulder with bioelectricity. He waited for them to turn around, and the Venom Strike kicked in, knocking them out. “Great Lorax reference, but Lyte’s not just talking about throwing a rock through a window; she wants to blow up a building. In my block! If any part of her plan goes wrong, people could get hurt. Can’t let her take that chance.” He grabbed a thug’s head and smacked her onto the ground.

“ _Actually, yeah, that’s right. Let’s get that Nuform outta here._ ”

Kris zipped to the chandelier and threw a remote mine and stalled for time as three thugs approached it. “Perhaps maybe we might even frighten away the Underground with a little… illumination—gentlemen!” Just as he said “gentlemen”, he detonated the mine and started humming the Phantom of the Opera overture. He zipped to the group of three enemies and turned invisible as he threw a remote mine at a corner. It distracted two, and led them to investigate. 

He detonated the mine, leading the third to investigate, which Kris took care of quickly. Now, only six members remained. He simply led them to a remote mine and detonated it on everyone. “He’s there, the Phantom of the Operaaa—”

He was cut short when the doors bursted open, and a group of three thugs walked in. Including one brute, who wielded a shield and a scythe of sorts. He shot a Gravity Well—one of the gadgets Peter gave him for Christmas—and it pulled all the thugs toward the said object. He performed a Venom Smash, which dematerialized the shield the brute had. He punched away at the brute, who was still stunned, and grabbed the scythe. He kicked off of the brute and smacked the brute with the blunt side of the scythe. “That takes care of the Underground. Now for the Nuform.”

Kris dropped onto the silo and slowly but carefully twisted the Nuform canister. His skull gave off a sharp buzz. “Oh, no—”

Lyte dropped in, in front of him. Kris avoided her, but she smacked him across the face, sending him flying across the room. He managed to stop himself by webbing the ground. “Can’t let you take that.”

She pulled the Nuform out and with her boosters, leapt upward. Kris thought quick and shot a web at the canister. The two burst out from the ground and Lyte was running up the wall, which dragged him around. “Hey—hey! HEY!”

Kris yanked himself toward her, knocking the both of them toward a part of the building. Lyte looked up at him, who stuck to a wall. “ _Seriously?_ ” She activated her gauntlets and darted right at him, smacking him through the statue’s wings. 

Kris shot two webs at each wing, resembling a slingshot, and launched himself toward Lyte. He spread-eagled to slow down his fall, even by a little, as Lyte shot at a few buildings to try and disorient Kris. “I JUST WANNA TALK!” He had to shout at the top of his lungs, because he doubted Lyte would be able to hear him through all the destruction.

“LY—TINKERER! _STOP!_ ” Kris zipped to the ledge of the Avengers building and launched off of it.

“SO YOU CAN STEAL MY NUFORM?! NOT A CHANCE IN _HELL!_ ” Lyte shot at him with a missile of sorts. Kris managed to swing low enough for it to miss him. 

“Claude! Ran into Lyte!”

“ _What’s going on—we saw the news, your cousins are watching—_ ”

“ _Kristian, is that you?_ ” It was Nicolette.

“Hi!”

“ _What are you doing there?_ ”

“I gotta get the Nuform she took, because she’s gonna use it to destroy Roxxon Plaza! I’ll update you later!” Kris zipped to a building and ran upward.

“ _Okay, Kris, what’s the plan?!_ ” Lysithea asked.

“Step one, catch her. Step two—I’ll get back to you later!” Kris launched himself off of a ledge and ran up a building’s wall diagonally, bounced off of it, and caught Lyte. The two hit a nearby building wall, but Lyte quickly shifted to the right, knocking Kris to the wall and forced the both of them to the road. “How ‘bout—we use our words?”

“How ‘bout… you stop being so _clingy?!_ ” Lyte pushed him off of her with a kick combined with her boosters.

“How is she not tired yet?!” Kris ran ahead, and with a mighty leap, he started swinging. He felt the bioelectricity surge onto his hands, and it boosted him further. “It’s not! Going! Well!”

“ _Where’re you?_ ”

“I don’t know! Dodging explosions at the moment, but based on how well I know my Manhattan, it should be the Upper East Side! Gonna need a new strategy!” Kris considered the thought of telling her, but he also didn’t know if he _should._ But if it meant the city, he had to. “I’m gonna do what Gwen said!”

“ _Tell her the truth?_ ”

“Yeah! As soon as I catch her!” Kris followed Lyte to the docks. Kris launched off of a lamp post and started swinging, using the cranes. “TINKERER, I GOTTA TELL YOU SOMETHING! SLOW DOWN!”

“DO YOU THINK I’M STUPID?!”

“YOU’LL WANNA HEAR THIS! I PROMISE!”

“STEP _OFF,_ KID-ARACHNID!”

Kris zipped through the cranes and started running on the hull of the ship, because he had no other areas to swing. He saw as Lyte ran through the wall of cargo crates and he bounced off of the hull as she shot at him. He used the crane that was on the ship to swing and shot a web at her, but she kicked him off and landed on a second ship. “Oh, God—not good, not good!”

Kris slid down the hull as he continued running. The problem this time, was that Lyte shooting at the cargo crates, causing them to fall off. Kris bounced off of the hull and ran up a falling cargo crate, swinging from the cranes again. “Hope the ship’s okay…!”

Kris followed Lyte onto the streets. Lyte knocked a car over as Kris had just caught up to her, causing a car to flip in front of him. Kris dropped onto a police car and fell over, because the car swerved to avoid the flipped car. He bounced off of the car hood and swung from a lamp post and started running up a building.

“I said… STEP OFF!” Lyte shouted from atop the building Kris was running up to catch up to her. A row of saw blades, covering the entire surface area of the building Kris was on top of, materialized and headed toward him.

“WHOAH! Why did she invent death wheels?!” Kris bounced off of the wall and zipped back to the building. He quickstepped to the left to avoid another saw blade, and quickstepped to the right to avoid another. He bounced off of the wall one last time and zipped to the top of the building. 

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Lyte grabbed his wrist. He turned to glance at her as she pulled him over her head and smacked him onto the railing, severely denting it. Kris let out a small squeal as a reaction to the railing smack, and was thrown across the roof of the building. 

His back was overcome with cold as he slid across the snow and pavement. His body just about stopped him from falling over, because his head hung over the building. He panted heavily and coughed as he looked up to see Lyte pull out her sword and have it materialize just at the tip of his neck. 

“Give me one good reason not to end you.”

Kris tried his best to pull his neck away from the blade. He didn’t want to have to do it yet, but he was left with no other choice. He tried to hold his breath so that his heavy breathing wouldn’t accidentally cause his neck to have a small cut. And that wouldn’t look good when he’s roaming around as Kristian Echarri. He swiftly lifted his mask.

“Our friends wouldn’t approve.” 

Kris heard a small gasp as the Tinkerer mask dematerialized, revealing Lyte’s shocked face. “ _Kris?_ ”

She stepped back, shaking her head in disbelief. Kris gripped the railing and forced himself upward, limping toward her and clutching his waist. “Can we just—”

“You two, on the roof! Freeze!”

Kris glanced at the police that swarmed the building, then back at Lyte, who seemed to have disappeared. He struggled to shoot a web as he limped around the building. He climbed onto the railings on the other side of the building and perched on it, removing his hand.

“That… could have gone better. Think she cracked a rib. Or three.”


	57. At Your Service! / Breaking Through The Noise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris, right after his confrontation with Lyte, decided to call his dad. Once they decided they'd meet up, Kris would decide to check on the app, first.

“ _Hey—how’d it go with Lyte?_ ”

“Not great. You still at my place?” Kris answered with laboured breathing.

“ _Actually, I’m at home. My parents will get back next week, so I thought I’d clean up. But I can come back, or Lysithea or Gwen could come over._ ”

“No, no, it’s… it’s fine. I’ll call you later.” Kris opted to go to Lysithea for help, because Ivy was in the campaign headquarters, and didn’t want to have to go there and bother her because her younger cousin was chasing the Tinkerer through the city. Also because she was the second best at nursing, when it came to everyone he knew. 

~~~

“Hey, dad… I need, um… I need some advice,” Kris said, sitting on the roof of the building Lysithea stayed at.

“ _About what, exactly?_ ”

“Just… everything. Are you free?”

“ _I can wrap up what I’m doing. I’ll call you in a few._ ”

“Thanks… talk to you soon.” With that, Kris walked down the stairs, too tired to crawl down to where Lysithea was.

Lysithea was typing away on her computer. Kris awkwardly staggered to her window and rested himself against the window for a bit before lightly tapping his head against the window. Lysithea, unaware of Kris’ injuries, smiled at him. 

“Come in.” Kris slid open the window and rested his head against the window. “You should maybe… consider coming in through the lobby.” The both of them shared a small laugh, because she referenced the time Kris came through the window for the dinner they invited him over for. “You know, my dad was under the impression you required psychiatric attention—”

She dropped her pen and quickly walked toward him. “What happened?”

“You should see the other person… the other person, in this case, is the same person who cracked, like, three ribs or so.” Lysithea supported Kris and moved him to a nearby sofa chair.

“Hey, Lysithea, you want some cocoa? Harry’s making some cocoa.” Kris and Lysithea glanced at the door, then back at each other. It was her father. Lysithea shushed him and Kris hobbled over the arm of the chair to hide. 

“No, dad, I do not want cocoa. Honestly, I’m eighteen-years-old.” Lysithea sounded annoyed when she said it, which would seem very out-of-character for her. Especially since she had the strongest sweet tooth in the friend group that knew Kris’ alter-ego.

George raised both eyebrows, slightly surprised. He shook it off and chuckled a little before saying, “Okay. I just thought I remembered somebody saying last week that her fantasy was to live in a chocolate house.”

“Well, that’s impractical.” Lysithea slammed the door, but then opened it back. “And fattening.” She slammed it back again and turned to Kris, who had his head popping out from the corner of the arm chair and smirking.

“Chocolate house,” he said.

Lysithea rolled her eyes, then opened the door. “Sorry, dad.”

George raised a hand. “It’s good.”

“I just, I can’t, um… have cocoa right now, because I’m working… I’m doing this, um…” Kris could clearly tell she was making this up on the way. “I have to… I have cramps.”

“Oh.” Kris was trying so hard not to snicker.

“I feel kind of pukey and just sort of, I don’t know, emotional.” 

“Okay.” George’s face was slowly growing awkward as the conversation continued.

“Like, I keep crying. It’s brutal. You don’t wanna know, trust me, it’s bad.” 

“Got it.”

“Thanks, dad.” Lysithea slowly closed the door and placed her back against it, slowly sliding down and burying her face on her hands out of embarrassment. It wasn’t until Kris awkwardly cleared his throat that she snapped out of it and hurried back to the sofa chair. “You better be grateful for that, because that was embarrassing!”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” 

~~~

He glanced at his phone to make sure it was the right place in Harlem. It was a report on thieves robbing local businesses. Kris considered it might also be the same group that messed with Teo’s and FEAST. He dropped down to a barber shop where a man was seen sweeping near the front. He turned to Kris. “Spider-Man, hey, I’m Caleb, good to meet you. Saw your mural at Teo’s.”

“Oh. That’s the other guy, but I’m still here to help.”

Caleb sighed. “Every business on this block had inventory stolen over the last few weeks. Paper products, kits, sanitizers… we’re all local; we can’t swallow a loss like that.”

“Did you report it?”

“Sure. But no one’s taking us seriously. Camila, she runs the restaurant next door, decided to look into it herself. Went down to the shipping centre that supplies all of us.” 

“I’ll meet her there—see if I can help.”

“Thanks, Spider-Man. Good to have you looking out for us.”

Kris leapt off of the roof and toward a wall. He wall-ran until he reached the edge, where he bounced off of the wall and swung. “Hey, guys, lookin’ into some robberies on Harlem’s main strip. Caleb’s Clean Cuts and Pana Fuerte?”

“ _Oh, I *love* Pana Fuerte. Did you try the arepas?_ ”

“ _Of course you do, Claude,_ ” Gwen commented.

“Can’t eat _anything_ before intense super-heroing. I learnt that the hard way.” Kris zipped through the sky.

“ _Right. So, what’s the plan?_ ”

Before Kris could even speak at all, Claude answered first. “ _Track down the stolen, find out who did it, see if it’s connected to the guys who robbed Teo’s Bodega?_ ”

“That… was what I was going to say. Word for word, even.”

~~~

“Cops… what’s going on?” 

“Witness said a woman was stuffed in a trunk after arguing with some ex-con types.”

“Got an ID?”

“From an Oscorp cam. Camila Vázquez, owns Pana Fuerte in Harlem.”

“Oh, my g—they kidnapped Camila.” Kris hopped through the lamp posts that were connected to the wall beside to look for clues. None of them were close enough to see, so he’d have to drop down. But he figured the cops wouldn’t like him interfering. The best course of action in these circumstances was to investigate while being invisible. 

He dropped down and looked around. There was a wallet on the ground, so he figured it’d be a good thing to check. But instead, what piqued his interest in the wallet, was the parking receipt. That could be a good lead. He picked it up, and it was a parking receipt in Chinatown. Though, it was ripped out, so he couldn’t see _where_ in Chinatown.

He spun on his heel and spotted a jacket. Probably another good clue as to where he could go. The only thing stopping him from checking the jacket was that there was a policeman checking it himself. He piled up a small bunch of snow and threw it, distracting the man. That left Kris an opening to check the jacket. “David’s Complete Auto Repair”, was where the jacket must have originated from. That seemed just about enough evidence for him, so he zipped to a nearby building. “Hey, guys. Know where I can find a, uh, David’s Complete Auto Repair?”

“ _There’s, like, twelve of ‘em in Manhattan,_ ” Gwen answered.

“Okay… there one in Chinatown?”

“ _Sending you an address._ ”

~~~

“Cops! Everybody go!” Three thugs immediately jumped into a car, just as Kris and the cops had reached the address. 

Kris ran from the roof he stood on and started diving. He shot a web at a building and swung. He shot two webs and pulled himself toward a building and flipped off of it and onto the car. “Alright, ma’am, you’ll be fine, Spidey’s on the case!”

“Aw, crap, it’s Kid-Arachnid!”

“Shoot him!” One thug poked his head and gun out of the window and began shooting. Kris flipped over to the hood and punched the head, pulling him to the top of the car and shooting him to a random building. Kris webbed up the second guy and stuck him to a streetlight. He flipped over to the driver’s opposite side and kicked him out, webbing him to a nearby wall and pulling the car to slow down. 

“Please, help me!” Kris ripped the trunk out and set it beside, helping Camila out. “Spider-Man, I didn’t expect you to… but those men…”

“It’s alright—you’re safe.” Kris pulled her out so she could stand.

“They—those men were paid to steal our inventory. Drive us out of business. They’re holding it at the docks on FDR, near the bridge.” 

“I’ll get the stuff back—ah, do you need help getting back home?”

“No no, I can call a cab. Gracias. You saved my life, sir.”

“De nada.”

~~~

Kris ran across the cargo crates in the shipyard, looking for any conversations to eavesdrop on to find where the crate with the inventory. “What’re you planning to do with that stuff? Barber shears, napkin holders…” He stopped to listen in on the conversation. It might be the one he was looking for. 

“Prob’ly dump it. You can get started if you want—green crate with the white star.” Kris flipped over to the crates and threw it at a group of thugs and detonated it. He hopped onto a railing and zip-kicked an enemy, taking them down. He spotted a thug on the top of the crates, so he webbed his foot and pulled, causing him to tumble over. Kris leapt over him and shocked him with bioelectricity. He threw another mine and detonated it, taking down two people. He kicked someone on the knee and smacked him over the head. He finished off by zip-kicking two thugs.

“Harlem, one. Awful-guys-working-for-mystery-boss… zero. Now, to find the goods… green container… white star.” Kris glanced at his right and started laughing. “And it’s just to my right! It’s your lucky day, Spidey…”

He opened the container and made sure to check if there were any thugs coming in. Nada. Kris called Caleb with a small smile blossoming on his face. “Hey, Caleb. Found your inventory. Bring a few trucks down to the docks and I’ll help move it back.”

~~~

“We were ready to file for bankruptcy and close our doors for good. ‘Cause of you, we’re back on our feet. Thank you, a thousand times, thank you! Ever need a haircut, drop by. It’s on the house.”

Kris chuckled lightly, shaking his head. “Ah—how’d that work with the mask?”

Caleb paused, then shrugged. “I’ve seen stranger.”

Camila stepped forth, a clipboard in her hand. “Oye, you need food, too; you’re a growing boy. Mira, come by Pana Fuerte anytime, we’ll wrap up something nice for you. Okay?”

“‘Preciate it. Both of you.” Kris did a small salute with only two fingers.

“Everyone on the block feels the same. You’ve done us good, Spider-Man.”

~~~

Kris swung to where his father told him to go to and looked around. He turned to see him in his Prowler suit. “…I’ll call you back…”

The two shared a hug. “Alright, Kristian. Spill it. Give me the whole situation.”

Kris sat down, his legs dangling over the edge. “Lyte… Roxxon… Underground… it’s just—a lot, you know?”

“You’re eighteen. You’re stressed. _And_ you’re a superhero. You gotta cut yourself some slack.” Prowler crouched and patted his back. “You still making beats?”

“Not much since… well, you know. And this.” Kris pulled down his hood.

Prowler placed a hand on his shoulder. “Work life balance, kid. Most important thing.” Kris stood up, and Prowler pulled out a thumb drive and handed it to him. “Here. Little project your gramps and I started back in the day. Our mixtape. Had rhymes ready and everything.”

Kris twisted it around his hand. “How come I never heard of this in all the times I’ve spent making my own music with gramps?”

“‘Cause we never finished. We sampled street noise around the way. Wanted the city to be our beat. But your dad had the masters. And after things went bad between us…” He jumped up to a different part of the machine. “But you can finish what we couldn’t. Plus, it’ll take your mind off work.”

“Yeah… yeah! Okay, what do I do?”

“Load that up; I’ll walk you through it.” Kris loaded the usb into his suit and zipped to a nearby lamppost. “ _I set up holograms to guide you. Scan the source._ ”

“Holograms, huh? Stealing my moves?” Kris had a small smirk under his mask.

“ _Ha. This was in my playbook before you were even born, young blood. Scan the holograms, and it’ll unlock the files on that drive I gave you. Help you figure out what sound you’re looking for._ ”

Kris scanned the hologram with the visors of his suit, and it unlocked the original sample. “Okay… focus on sound. Don’t think about Lyte. Clear head.” The original sample sounded like a bell of sorts. “A… a buoy?”

Kris scanned the buoy, and it matched the original sample. “ _There you go! Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s it! Rest of the sounds you need are spread across the city. I left a few messages for you, too. To help you get a feel for each location._ ”

“Oh, cool.” Kris spun on his heel and swung toward Prowler.

Prowler watched as Kris swung back. He groaned when he got a call. “Not now.” He declined the call. Kris dropped down behind him. “Heyyy—got something you like?”

“Yeah. _Really_ unique dynamics.” 

“See? Old man still knows his stuff.” As he said it, the two hugged tightly.

“And you were right about clearing my head, too. I know what to do about Lyte. I gotta see her. Try to talk her out of all this.” Kris glanced at the city, then turned back to him.

“In person? Where?” Prowler placed a hand on his shoulder and gripped tightly.

Kris had a sneaking suspicion on him, but he shrugged it off. The thought, and the hand. “Trinity Church, tomorrow night. Why so interested?”

“Because you’ve got a target on your back the size of Jersey.”

Kris groaned, heading toward the railing and crouching on top of it as he stared into the city. He took a deep breath and sighed. “You don’t _have_ to protect me.”

“Someone should.” He joined him by the balcony, but instead rested his elbows on it instead of crouching on it, like Kris.

Kris turned to him. “You know, you said you never finished this tape because of how things went bad between you and gramps… what actually happened between you two?”

“It was… complicated.” His father took a deep breath, and sighed, turning to Kris. “Finish the tape, get all the samples, and you’ll hear the whole story. Promise.”

“Alright. Thanks, dad.” With that, Kris swung off to get a good night’s sleep, leaving Prowler behind. He tapped on the temple of his helmet. 

“Trinity Church. Remember, Tinkerer’s yours. But leave the boy alone.”


	58. Tinker Tailor Spider Spy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris asked Lyte to go to Trinity Church in order to at least fix their broken friendship the best he could. Though, things went wrong. _Really_ wrong.

Kris sat upright and sat down on the edge of the bed. “ _Really_ needed that… I was beat.” 

He turned to his left to see his instruments. He chuckled a little, walking over to his gear, picked up his kazoo and blew into it. “Yep, still works.”

He slowly twisted the doorknob and walked down the hall. “Guys? Claude? Anybody home…? Huh. Guess it’s… just me.” Kris walked back over to his bag and slung it over his shoulder, sliding open the window and running up the wall and changing.

Kris adjusted his mask and sighed as he looked up at the cerulean blue sky. Then, he also remembered that the sky was gonna darken slightly, because he was gonna call Lyte. He nervously bit his tongue and scratched his knee in anticipation as the phone kept ringing.

“ _Hi… Kid-Arachnid._ ”

Kris sighed deeply. The ‘Spider-Man’ correction, he bit back. “Lyte—hey—we need to talk. In person.”

“ _So you can lie to me again?_ ”

“So I can make this right. Please. Trinity Church, no more lies, just the two of us. I promise.” 

“ _If you’re screwing with me—_ ” Lyte paused, then inhaled deeply. “ _Fine. I’ll see you there._ ”

~~~

Kris flipped onto one of the spires of Trinity Church, right beside Lyte, who didn’t even turn to see him. “That was a hell of a way to tell me you were Kid-Arachnid. What if I killed you?”

“You want _me_ to feel bad because you almost killed me?” Kris furrowed his brows under the mask.

“I _want_ you to stop _lying_ to me!” Lyte slowly started to pace on the railings of the cathedral. “I let you in the Underground because I thought you understood.”

“I _do_ understand. What Krieger did to Rebekka… Roxxon needs to pay. Not like this.” Kris bit back the sad backstory, because that could potentially piss her off.

“ _This_ is the only way I can beat him.” Lyte rested her hand on the wall. “I need you to look the other way. Please.”

“I can’t…” Kris gritted his teeth, standing up. “You _know_ I can’t. I made a promise.”

Lyte sighed deeply and crouched, placing both hands on her head. Kris hopped over next to her and rested his palm on the wall to his right. “Why’d you pick here?”

“We came here. To that concert. Seven choirs from seven countries. Remember?” Lyte stood up. Kris smiled a little. “Ghana was my favourite.”

“Ghana wasn’t there, you’re thinking of Guinea.”

“I know, I’m pretty sure it’s Ghana.”

“Guinea, Belize, Poland, Cuba…” 

“South Korea, Thailand, Venezuela, you’re right,” Kris finished.

“I usually am,” She said with a smile.

“ _Usually._ ” The faint sound of a helicopter entered his ears, and he quickly looked up. “ _What—?_ ”

They were met with a red figure dropping down from the helicopter. It was Rhino in a more upgraded version of his suit. Rhino slid down the cathedral tower and leapt off of it. Kris and Lyte jumped off in an attempt to escape, but Rhino grabbed Lyte’s leg and threw her aside, making the two slide down the slanted area of the cathedral. He reached out to grab her foot as he slowly inched toward the edge. Lyte instinctively kicked, allowing Rhino to grab her ankles, dragging her down with him.

Kris leapt forth and landed on Rhino’s back and attempted to use his Venom Strike against him, but to no avail—it didn’t affect Rhino like last time. Kris glanced at his hand as Rhino chuckled, grabbing his hand and throwing him across the graveyard. Kris crashed onto a tombstone and couldn’t get up as Rhino advanced toward him, grabbed him by the torso, and smacked him to the ground.

~~~

Kris slowly blinked open, the “SYSTEM ERROR!” flashing on his display changed into “REBOOTING SYSTEM”. He looked up to see none other than the man himself—Simon Krieger. “Gotta say, I’m disappointed, bud.”

“ _Krieger?_ ”

“Yeah… See, Ms. Marsh…” Krieger tilted his head. “Kinda knew she was gonna be a handful. But _you…?_ ” Krieger pointed at Kris, smirking. “I guess I was hoping that you and me would see eye to eye.”

“Where are we?” Kris asked, his voice quiet.

“You’re behind the curtain, bud!” Krieger slowly leaned back on the chair, raising both hands. He exhaled. “This is… our _most_ secure facility. In here, the sausage gets made.”

“You’re a real prick, you dick.”

Kris bit back the urge to say “language”. Krieger chuckled, pointing at Lyte. “Y’know, when—her, her friend and I were developing Nuform—”

“All you did was put your name on the patent. All you knew how to do was sell other people’s ideas—like the little _bitchy_ fraud you are.”

Krieger knocked over the chair he was previously sitting on and started walking toward Lyte. “Yeah, well at least I still got a pulse!” His breathing calmed down, and he turned to Kris, tapping all five fingers together. “But let’s not dwell. Alright?”

Krieger picked up the chair and rested one hand on it. “The first thing we’re gonna do, is I’m gonna—” He lifted his other hand to touch Kris’ jaw, but his bioelectricity shocked him. “WOW!” He laughed, raising his still-smoking hand at Kris. “That is _awesome!_ Are those involuntary defences?”

Kris didn’t answer. He just looked at him, then turned to the ground. “Oh, man, that’s hot.” Krieger inched closer to Kris. “You see—I’m gonna get that mask off you… and I’m gonna find out what makes you tick. Because you just— _smell_ like next level bio-engineering, and you know what that smells like to me, kid?” Krieger inched even closer to Kris, who tried to move.

“ _That smells like money._ ” 

Krieger smirked at him, then stood up, heading toward the door. “Okay! I’m gonna hit the gym—leg day. Can’t skip it. Get her to tell us where my Nuform is, huh? Can’t really open the plaza without it. Oh, and, ah—use him.”

Kris continued to stare at Krieger as he headed toward the door. The door opened to reveal Rhino and three Roxxon Agents that wielded two energy batons of sorts and a gun. “Time to finish what we started on the bridge.”

“No cameras, now…”

A Roxxon Agent threw the chair across the room, and they started to beat him up. One of them jabbed the tip of the baton on his torso to send the energy through his body. Which hurt. A lot. Lyte quickly managed to break free from her binds on both arms and legs. She tried to run toward him, but Kris stopped her by saying, “Get—back—!”

The bioelectricity crackled around him. His camouflage was activating on its own. It felt like the whole world slowed down around him, because his Venom Strike acted up in his chest and hands. The bioelectricity discharged around him took the form of a spiderweb. Kris turned to his hands, which was still yellowish. He dropped to his knees, and Lyte quickly ran to him.

“Holy _shit._ ” was the first thing she said as she helped him toward the door as the room around them still whistled with the electricity. 

“Roxxon kept Rhino instead of giving him to the police… it’s _crazy!_ ” 

Lyte groaned. “ _Nothing_ about Roxxon surprises me anymore.”

“You okay?” Kris asked as the two of them walked into a room.

“I will be… once we’re out.” Lyte headed toward a monitor and began typing away. Kris looked through the glass wall in front. “I’m shutting off security cams. Can you check that computer?”

Kris spun to the left and bent over, typing away. “What’d you find?”

“No Minecraft,” Kris joked. He turned to see Lyte, impatiently tapping her foot on the ground and staring back, unamused. “Alright, alright. Exit’s through this office—just up ahead. Gotta lift the base lockdown first from the control room, though.”

“First, we need to escape the security wing. I’ll go down to the floor, see what we’re dealing with.” Lyte tip-toed to glance over Kris’ shoulder to see the computer screen, then gave up and headed to the door. She sighed heavily. “Door’s locked.”

“Venom Strike worked on the cell… maybe it could work on the door.” Kris tapped the last key and turned to where the vent was located; just above. He zipped to it and kicked open the vent door, spotting a generator. “He-llo…”

He lifted a hand and felt the bioelectricity move from his chest to his hand, turning the generator on and letting Lyte open the door. Kris crawled through the vents and dropped down. He crawled through the ceiling and started taking down a few Roxxon Agents.

~~~

“Mag-ni-fique!” Kris jogged over to the control room, but a profile of Rebekka caught his eye—he directed his attention toward the monitor. “Looks like there’s a voice memo from Krieger…”

“ _I liked Rebekka Wrighte, I did, but… bleeding hearts don’t survive this business. Maybe we should set up a plaque in her memory, or, uh… oh, oh! Uh, name a bench after her. Ha! Yeah, I bet she’d love that._ ”

“Simon Krieger; bastion of compassion.” Kris straightened his back and turned back to the monitor he was supposed to go. As he typed away, he spotted an Underground crate beside. “Hey—uh, Lyte? Roxxon’s stealing your stuff.”

“That’s thick, coming from _you._ Thanks for that, by the way.”

“You’re welcome.” Kris turned back to the monitor and typed away. “Triggering the override! Oh—there’s a voice memo…”

“ _Sir, the police are asking about Rhino. What do we tell them?_ ”

“ _Our man at the Raft is setting up a special “work release program”. Tell the police Rhino’s doing… a little community service._ ”

“Can’t believe they got away with this!” 

“Door’s unlocked; but I’m gonna need you to open it.” Kris nodded briefly and forced both hands at the crack of the door and pushed it open as silent as possible. The both of them pass through the door, but a giant shadow caused them to hide behind a nearby wall.

“I can’t let them go until I have my Nuform…”

“He shouldn’t even be here; your muscle was supposed to grab the girl.” Rhino sneered at the comment. The voice was oddly familiar. And he _hoped_ it wasn’t who he thought it was.

“Yeah, you didn’t like that. Here’s the deal, bud… Kid-Arachnid’s the best leverage I got against Ms. Marsh. I mean— _you_ caught them… together—” Krieger quickly shook his head and pointed at Rhino. Kris peeped his head from the corner. The red light obstructed who was who, but he could definitely tell that two out of the three people were Krieger and Rhino. “Well, I mean, _you_ caught them, but it was thanks to _your_ intel, so… clearly there’s something going on there.”

Kris turned around to see Lyte slowly lift the grate below. Kris kept it open, but paused, still listening to the conversation. “You agreed to leave the kid alone.”

Kris’ eyes widened, along with his visors. He whispered, “ _Dad?_ ”

“Ah, “the kid”. Love how you say that, it’s just— _so_ paternal.”

“Let Spider-Man go, and I’ll get you your Nuform.” Kris slowly lowered himself into the grate, still not letting his gaze at the conversation be torn by anything. “Feed you Underground intel, whatever you want.”

“See? Leverage. Works every time.”

Lyte kept glancing back and forth at the conversation and Kris. “Kri—Kid-Arachnid!”

“Dangit, Lyte, it’s _Spider-Man_ for the last time!”

“Here’s leverage for you: I’ve _seen_ things. Nuform making people sick, what you did to Rebekka Wrighte… if I went public—”

“Yeah, but you won’t. Here’s the deal: you’re a wanted thief. Plus, all the jobs we’ve done together—” Krieger strutted toward Prowler and scoffed, wiping the man’s shoulder. “Bud, you’d be in the cell right next to mine. And we both know you’re a _little_ too self-serving for that. So, we’re gonna head in and check in on Ms. Marsh and Kid-Arachnid, but… it’s… _kind_ of an invite-only party… yeah. Bye.”

“Dad… no…” he whispered.

“Wait—that’s your _father?_ ” Kris silently nodded. “Is he the reason we got captured?”

“No, it’s… I knew he worked with Roxxon, but I didn’t think he’d—”

“I can’t believe this. You led me to a trap. _Why_ do I keep _listening_ to you?!” Kris spotted a generator ahead and charged it up, opening the door ahead. 

“There _has_ to be an explanation. I didn’t know this would happen!”

“Just—save it.”

The both of them ran toward the control room. Surprisingly, nothing needed to open it. No power, no nothing. “Huh. You’d think there’d be a puzzle here if this was a video game.”

~~~

Kris spotted a room on the other side of the room they were in. “That’s our way out. Gimme a few minutes to get it open.”

Kris flipped onto the window. “Looks like they guessed our plan.”

“Not hard. There’s only one exit.”

“Alright. I’ll take care of those guards, you get it open.” Kris flipped back to where Lyte stood and headed toward the door. 

“One thing: Did you ever think about calling me, to tell me you were Spider-Man?” Kris bit back the truth. He nodded slightly, giving off a white-lie of sorts. On one hand, he _did_ think of it, but on the other, it was his friends who implanted the idea. “You know, after—” The door busted open.

“I’ll be fine. Just go.”

~~~

“Look, I know you don’t trust me—”

“ _You’re right. I don’t._ ”

Kris zipped to a nearby wall. “What can I do to change that?”

“ _Stop going behind my back. And stop acting like I haven’t thought this through. No one’ll get hurt when I blow up the Plaza. No one except Roxxon. You *know* they deserve it._ ”

“Just—promise to talk it through with me, okay? I promise to listen. _Really_ listen.”

“ _I’ve made up my mind, Kris. You need to start accepting that._ ”

“Then I’ll stop you. _You_ need to start accepting _that._ ”

~~~

“Think that’s the exit.” Kris pointed at the door, then spotted a piece of tech from Lyte. “Hey. Lost and found.”

“Thanks. I know this place… this is Krieger’s lab.”

“Krieger has a lab?”

“Mostly for show, but yeah.”

Kris thwipped a web on the ceiling and typed away on the monitor in front of him, upside down. “Lookie here. All the current Nuform project data’s on here. Toxicity reports, failed safety reviews… and Krieger’s name’s on everything! This would destroy Roxxon—”

His spider-sense tingled. He quickly pulled Lyte out of the way as Rhino charged through the door. Kris tried to Venom Strike him, but nothing worked. Rhino stopped, throwing Kris off. “You like my new colour? Immune to your little… zappy pops.”

“Zappy… pops?” Kris chuckled, getting up. “Come on, man… that sounds like a candy I’d _totally_ buy!”

“Now… we FINISH THIS!” Rhino roared as he ran to punch Kris. But Lyte was quicker—with her tech, she materialized a shield and blocked Rhino’s punch, throwing him back. Lyte had her sword materialize as guards started swarming them. Rhino started charging after him. Kris flipped over him, and lured him to a tank. He began punching away, breaking off a pauldron. “You are… worthy foe. I will give you good death.”

“Good death?! Come on, big guy! I’d much prefer an _amazing_ death— _spectacular,_ even!” Kris flipped over Rhino and had him charge at a tank. He kicked his chin upward and webbed his back, forcing him down. Lyte charged in and sliced a piece of his horn off. Kris bounced off his back as Rhino angrily ripped the four goggles off his face. “Alright, big guy, we got this, we got this! Come on! _Spectacular_ death! That’s what I want as a New Year’s resolution!”

Rhino ran toward a tank and threw it at Kris. “These are only… surface wounds.”

“Why do you sound so tired?” Lyte shouted from across the room.

“You see these men? These weapons?! Roxxon is stopped by nothing!”

“Oh, I’m stopping Roxxon, alright. Permanently.”

Kris charged up the piece of tank Rhino threw and volleyed it back to him and kicked up his chin. He shot a web at his face and swung around before sliding through his legs and pulling, knocking him down. Lyte ran forth and sliced through his Roxxon armor. “His Roxxon armor’s disabled—you’re up!”

“Hey, big guy! Ready to be force-fed some zappy pops for dinner—actually, wait, that’s not good to eat sweets before dinner!” He performed a Venom Dash and started punching his jaw. 

“I do not… like you…”

“Don’t stop! You’re gonna break him!”

“This woman is… fierce.”

“Sleepy, Aleksei?!” Kris hopped over his back and pulled, causing him to look up. 

Kris bounced off of his beck and kicked his jaw. “I do not… sleepy… I still have strength to defeat you!”

“You don’t even have the strength to run! We’re gonna rip you apart!” Lyte dodged the cracks Rhino created through kicking the ground.

“She might actually kill him—gotta end this. Fast!” Kris kicked up as hard as he could and bounced off of the ground. He performed a Venom Smash, knocking Rhino to his side. Lyte kept advancing toward him, but Kris gripped her shoulder. “Wait. Just make sure he doesn’t do anything. I’ll be right back.”

Kris swung to Krieger’s lab and began typing away at the monitor. “Krieger’s data will shut Roxxon down. The right way.”

“You know, Krieger told me how your friend died,” Rhino spoke, his suit still malfunctioning. He coughed. “Very amusing.”

Lyte turned to Rhino with disgusted eyes. “Shut up.”

Rhino laughed. “He also told me… it was _your_ fault.” He continued to laugh and further taunt Lyte. She turned back to him, rage and bloodlust from the previous battle slowly bubbling up inside her. “‘Don’t kill Rebekka, Krieger!’” He said in a mocking voice.

Meanwhile, from across the room, Kris checked the computer to see Lyte’s calculations. She certainly wasn’t wrong about the Nuform being able to explode only Roxxon Plaza. He lifted his hands shakily, staring into the screen with anxious eyes. 

“Krieger updated the reactor… tried to supercharge it to make his deadline. If Lyte goes through with his plan—” Kris played a simulation of how it would, theoretically, go through like. A lighter circle, that seemed to be the explosion, expanded toward all of Harlem. He gasped. “Oh my goodness. All of Harlem…”

Lyte continued to approach Rhino as he jittered slightly from his malfunctioning suit. “You watched her die. Helpless.” Rhino began laughing, but his voice was too raspy thanks to the harsh punishment he received from Kris and Lyte just moments before. Lyte paused for a brief moment, and materialized her sword.

Kris could sense it from the other side of the room and looked up from the screen. “No, no, no—!” Kris flipped over the monitor and ran toward Lyte, who activated her mask.

“Go to hell.”

She stabbed Rhino with the sword and continued to push deeper. Kris managed to reach just in the nick of time for her to not push it further inside and the both of them knocked onto the nearby subway tracks. Lyte stood up and turned back at the hole they left, but the rubble fell, breaking off her only way to get back in and finish the big guy. She turned to Kris, and the rage that (and small ounce of bloodlust) bubbled up from Rhino was practically _boiling._

“ _Lyte!_ What the hell were you—” She smacked him to a metal support beam, but doing so dented the beam as he dropped onto the tracks.

She boosted herself higher and dragged him across the train tracks. “You screwed up—the _BRIDGE…_ ” She activated her gauntlets and began punching away. “Destroyed my LAB… and got. Me. KIDNAPPED!”

As she punched away, Kris’ interface glitched out on him, with the words ‘SYSTEM ERROR!’ flashing. He lifted a weary arm as he coughed and hacked, breathing anxiously. “Lyte… Lyte, the reactor—!”

Lyte lowered herself. “Come near me again…” She deactivated the mask. “and I’ll kill you.”

Kris looked back at Lyte as she began walking away, lifting his hand. “But… we were _family._ ”

She turned back at him, her mask activated. It wasn’t the same Lyte he knew—she’s fully descended into madness, logic not setting in at all. “ _Were,_ family.”

Kris watched as she jumped away with her tech. He lifted a shaky hand and placed it near his ear. He tried to call Claude, but the signal was too weak. It was the best he had at the moment, because his body felt too numb to even walk. All he could do was move one limb as of that moment.

“Guys… guys, I need help…”

~~~

Kris limped into the apartment with the help of Claude, still clad in his Kid-Arachnid suit but sans mask. The numb feeling he had that surged through his body wasn’t helping Claude at all with the movement, but Claude didn’t mind. He set him on the couch. “I’m gonna get a washcloth. And some antibiotics—stay there, and get as much water as you can.”

“Yeah… like I could even walk to the kitchen in this condition…” The lights flickered on in the corridor. Kris sighed, closing his eyes and wiping his face of the dirt he previously had.

“Kristian?” Ivy walked in, still in her pastel pink nightgown. Her eyes widened when she took notice of Kris’ body on the couch. “Oh my God—what happened?”

“I… think I oughta let you in on something…”

~~~

“Lyte’s attacking the plaza…” Ivy muttered as she applied the bandages that wrapped around his torso area. Kris nodded, trying his best to ignore the pain. “…so you chased her around the city. And you could’ve died— _nearly_ died… and this…?”

Kris shivered from the cold as he struggled to put on a shirt. Ivy had to help him pull down the shirt. After he finally had some over him aside from the Spider-Man suit lower-half (and the upper-half dangling below), she gently laid him back onto the couch. She sat down beside him. Kris sighed. “‘S why I didn’t tell you guys in the first place. Didn’t want you guys to worry. And now, Spider-Man’s gone, and I just keep—making things worse, and _worse._ And I _basically_ screwed up things with the five of you when Mysterio exposed my identity. What, with all the lying…”

Ivy placed a hand over his. “Kristian. There is nothing that you could ever do or ever be that could stop us from loving you. _Nada._ You gave us _strength,_ Kristian. That’s all a hero _really_ is. Someone who’s _brave_ for the people they love.” Kris forced himself to lean closer in for a hug, but she did it for him. He lifted both shaky hands as he tried to return the hug.

“Just a guy who doesn’t give up…” Kris muttered. Ivy chuckled a little and ruffled his hair. 

“Gloria’s handling FEAST, and Teo’s helping us go door to door,” Claude said.

“Perfect. Let’s get this evac started, then.” Claude nodded, heading outside. She turned to Kris. “You remind me more of our grandfather everyday. You stay safe.”

“I will.” Kris turned to glance at the portrait of his family. His cousins, his grandfather, and aunt. His lips curled into a small smile as he nodded and headed off.


	59. We Got A Lead! / Thicker Than Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kris helped out a mute lady in Harlem and found out where Lyte was headed, only to have the most unwelcome surprise.

Kris walked into his bedroom and stopped by Claude. He walked up to him and grabbed the back of the chair. Claude turned to him. “Hey. Gwen ‘nd Lysithea and I are telling people they need to evacuate through Twitter before me and your cousins go door to door.”

“Great. Ah—I wanted to say, applying to Gwen and Lysithea if they’re in the stream even though it’s literally nothing: thanks for having my back when you found out.” Claude nodded with a small smile. Through his (Claude’s) headphones, Kris could faintly hear “awww”s. “And I could use you guys’ help before I go. I wanna cross-reference Underground activity with buildings that could store Nuform. Maybe you could hack Oscorp surveillance towers or whatnot?”

“Alright… it might take a while, but since we have—practically a team, even though it’s, like, three people, it should take less than expected.” Claude swiveled the chair to face Kris and rested his elbows on the armrest. “Also, where’d you get this? You’re usually all “Oh, I don’t know, maybe do this or this or that”?”

“I got that from movies. Mostly detective genres. Other than that, thanks, man.” Kris and Claude did their secret handshake and shared a hug. The both of them finger-gunned each other and Kris removed his hoodie to pull up his upper-half of the Spider-Man suit. He pulled up the hood but without the mask and slipped open the window to crawl up. 

He pulled down the hood to put the mask on and sighed. He had some time while Claude, Gwen, and Lysithea tracked down Lyte. He thought of checking the app to see if there were any troubles stirring up in his neighborhood. Kris flipped off of the building and swung toward CJ Walker Park. He dropped onto the stage where she leaned back on and he cleared his throat. “Hey… are you… Hailey?”

The lady got off of her phone and gestured, “I’m Hailey. Everyone’s slowly calling you “our Spider-Man”. My friend Scarlett even wanted a picture with you.”

“Oh, uh…” It’s true that Kris learnt ASL, but he wasn’t as fluent as the lady in question. He bit his tongue, betting that he would embarrass himself. He gestured whilst also talking, “She can… always request it in the app…? Uh… my tech crew… said you could… help me find the guys messing with Harlem…?”

The lady chuckled a little, then gestured, “They’re working out of a shipping centre near the river. I followed them after they tried to mess with the King’s Day parade.”

“You _followed_ them?” Kris quickly remembered that he was speaking to a deaf lady and quickly gestured, “Oh, sorry. You followed them? That’s… dangerous. And brave, gotta admit. Good on you. I’ll go there and try to shut them down.” in hopes of possibly not offending her or whatnot.

“It’s fine. Thanks for looking out. Try not to die.”

Kris nodded quietly, trying his best not to scream in embarrassment. In fact, he would have screamed if: the area wasn’t populated, or the fact he was a superhero. He ran off and leapt away, screaming constantly on the inside as he swung. 

~~~

“Guys’re defo set up here,” Kris whispered, scanning the whole area that laid below him. “Gonna clear ‘em out and see if I can shut down this whole operation. 

“ _New rule: Kris can’t say defo. Ever,_ ” Gwen said. 

Kris threw a remote mine and detonated. He quickly turned to the fourth thug and webbed him up to the small tower he perched at. All four thugs on the highest high ground were down and out. He zipped to perch on a ledge and webbed the lonely thug onto a web. “Don’t worry, I’ll find you a special someone for Valentine’s Day. Then you won’t be lonely.”

Kris leapt off of the railings and zip-kicked two thugs to the ground, knocking them out. “Hoho, thank _you_ Metal Gear!”

~~~

Kris ran into the warehouse after he finished taking out the bunch of thugs. One thing caught his eye—footprints. He knelt down to check on it. “Footprints… that vanish. Hm.”

He found a box with a big red button. He chuckled, clapping a little. “Aha! Big ole’ red do-not-push button. I’m gonna push it.” He pushed the button and snickered, but he quickly stopped when the floor around him acted like an elevator and lowered himself. He started laughing. “Main takeaway from this? Always push do-not-push buttons!”

“ _Hey, pulled network data; webcam calls to the Raft are definitely coming from here,_ ” Gwen said.

“So cut the network connection, brick the computer, no more boss to give ‘em orders! Great!” Kris opened the doors and spotted a bunch of equipment. “Hello? Big man that looks like a boulder?”

He had a sneaking suspicion this was from Wilson Fisk. Not just from the amount of thugs, but just the feeling he was getting when he entered the room. He flipped over the table and spun on his heel to type away at the computer. 

“Could you help me run a hybrid attack?”

“ _Sure, but first try V-A-N-E-S-S-A_ ”

“ _Vanessa?_ ” Kris figured it _was_ from Fisk. Especially from the password. 

“ _If the setup belongs to who we think it is—_ ”

Their communication was cut short by a bald man that popped up on the side of the screen. “ _What is this, Kid-Arachnid?_ ”  
“ _We can sever the connection from here. Just keep him talking._ ” Kris heard Gwen say.

“Oho, tubbo—no offense, of course—have _I_ got a story for you!” He straightened his back and continued to look at the screen. “I’ve stopped what you’re doing in Harlem, and you’re done in _my_ neighborhood!”

“ _*Your* neighborhood?_ ” Fisk leaned closer to the camera. “ _How touching. You’ll learn that when you cross me, the people you want to protect are the ones who suffer._ ”

The connection was severed—courtesy of Claude, Gwen, and Lysithea. With that, Kris leapt out of the warehouse and swung toward where Hailey was. 

~~~

“ _Kris, Hailey texted me. Fisk’s guys’re attacking CJ Walker Park!_ ”

“Fantastic.” Kris could spot the black smoke from a distance. Arson, he assumed. If not, it was probably caused by something else. Most probably smoke bombs. A thought surfaced in his mind. “Thought I took ‘em out, though?” 

“ _They were scattered around the neighborhood. They’re going after people at the party._ ” Kris could hear Gwen crunching on something on her end of the call.

“Are you _eating?_ ”

“ _Yeah? I didn’t eat breakfast._ ”

~~~

Kris flew in and threw a Gravity Well at the centre, bioelectricity crackling around him. He discharged the bioelectricity into the shape of a spider-web. “ _Why do you have so many new moves?!_ ” Claude was freaking out over the discharge, so Gwen had to ask that for him.

“Uh—I don’t know, but before Claude names it, _I’m_ naming it! Mega Venom Blast!” 

“ _Dude! That’s a crazy overpowered move! I’m pretty sure you took out the entire group!_ ”

“I did…?” Kris glanced around in search of reinforcements or whatnot. Nada. “Huh. I did.”

~~~

Kris webbed the thugs up and strung them up onto a nearby lamppost. “Here you go, guys! A gift from yours truly, a Christmas ornament!”

A hand tapped his shoulder and he quickly turned around. It was Hailey. “Spider-Man, I gotta thank you,” she gestured. 

“Uh, don’t worry ‘bout it,” he gestured.

“I mean it. There’s been a Spider-Man protecting New York since I was a kid. But to have one here, who cares about me, my home… it means everything,” she gestured.

“Aw, thanks. It’s my home, too.” 

A few seconds of silence passed, then Haily removed the scarf she had and wrapped it around Kris. “In case you get cold while you’re swingin. It looks better on you than me.”

“I doubt that. But thanks. Bye, Hailey.” 

“Me, too.”

~~~

“Fisk’s done in Harlem, thanks to us. And don’t say “No, Kris, it’s thanks to you”,” Kris said the second he entered his apartment. He grabbed a beanie, earmuffs, his black jacket and leg warmers. 

Claude laughed. “Okay, you’re right, we did it together. Howzit feel to be Harlem’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man?”

Kris slid open the window. “Honest opinion? Pretty good.” Instead of diving out, he leaned against it.

“Oh! Almost forgot to tell you—Danika Hart from Danikast heard what we’ve been up to. She wants us to come on her show.”

“That’s awesome! Gotta check out Danikast when I have freetime. Ah—you nervous?”

“ _Nervous?_ No… I mean… ah, crap, what should I wear?”

“I don’t think it matters… it’s a podcast.”

“What if she can _hear_ that I’m still wearing my reindeer onesie? What if she wants to hop on a webcam? Oh my God, I… I gotta get ready.”

~~~

“ _Found Lyte’s setup: the Oscorp Science Centre, though, it’s closed for renovations,_ ” Lysithea said.

Kris groaned deeply. “Oh my g—our _energy converter!_ The one that won the middle school science fair! _That’s_ how she’s gonna finish making the Nuform unstable enough to blow up Roxxon Plaza!”

“ _Whoah. It’s like she picked it to get back at you._ ”

“Maybe she did. Thanks, guys.”

“ _It’s our job,_ ” Claude replied. “ _Speaking of, now’s the time to help your cousin evacuate Harlem. Later._ ”

With that, Kris heard everyone leave their desks. He sighed deeply. “Oscorp Science Centre… ah, memories. Tainted with… well, Lyte being Lyte.”

~~~

Kris swung through the campus of what seemed to be a university when he got blasted by a green beam of energy, knocking him onto a building roof. He slid through the snow and stopped from the bunched up snow. He tried to get up, but he felt tired. Drowsy.

The sound of footsteps approached him, but he couldn’t see who—his eyelids were too droopy to even see who it was. He looked up to see the blurry vision of a purple figure.

“ _Sorry about this, son…_ ”

~~~

A blink, and Kris appeared to have woken up in a cell. He looked around. It seemed to be an abandoned subway station. He concentrated his bioelectricity to his hand and reached for the holographic-like wall that caged him, but it zapped him. It took a few seconds to notice his winter wear was gone. 

“Can’t let you go back out there.” Kris looked around, his guard raised. The Prowler decloaked in front of him and took a few steps ahead. “Let Krieger and the Tinkerer kill each other. Go back to being Spider-Man when the heat dies down.”

“And what, just hide down here?” Kris scoffed. “I don’t get to pick and choose when I’m Spider-Man. I gotta stop Lyte—”

“No, you gotta _survive._ I’ve been trying to teach you that since our reunion, but you don’t listen,” his father said, pointing at him.

“You want me to survive so bad, why sell me out to Krieger?” Kris paced around the cell.

“Wasn’t. A sellout.” 

Kris scoffed again. “Yeah, right.”

“I’m serious. You were never supposed to get caught,” he said. “Krieger broke our deal.”

Kris shook his head. “You wanted back in the family, _dad._ And that’s the best you could do?”

“I _saved_ your life.”

“You _threw_ me in a _cell!_ ” Kris gestured toward the whole cell, anger already bubbling.

“To protect you!” he shouted.

“Like _this_ is protecting me?!” 

“Dammit, Kristian! I’m not gonna lose you too!”

Kris slowly walked toward the green holographic-like wall and stopped. “I’m not gonna let people die just to save my skin, and there’s one thing you missed.” He crouched down and had his Venom Strike crackle around him as he clenched his fist. 

“You underestimated me.”

Kris punched through the cell. He pushed his father to the ground and threw him to the lower level of the station. “Dammit, no! Don’t fight me on this!”

“I don’t want to, but I can’t stay down here!” Prowler drew his claws and charged at Kris. Kris flipped over him and tried to hit back, but he cloaked away. 

“Then I’ll do what I have to. To keep you safe!”

Kris relaxed himself. He’s had this experience before. With Beck. If he wanted to get through his dad, he was gonna have to rely on his spider-senses. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Prowler decloaked in front of him and Kris took it as an opportunity—he flipped over him and slapped a remote mine on his shoulder and detonated it. 

The mine detonated, stunning him. Kris kicked up and shot a web at him. Kris kicked him to the back and used his webbing to pull him and Prowler closer to deliver a powerful punch. “This isn’t about me, is it?! It’s about you! You’re afraid!”

“Don’t you turn this on me!” Kris kicked him to the ground. Prowler got up. “You don’t realize: I’m the only one trying to save you.”

“And _I’m_ trying to save everyone else.” Prowler dashed at him with his claws and slashed. Kris jumped over him and onto the bridge. Prowler followed him then paused, activated what looked like the same green beam that made him grow drowsy. 

“You think you can beat the Tinkerer and Roxxon. You can’t.” Kris dodged the beam but not the mine he threw shortly after. It rendered his Venom Strike unusable for a short period of time. 

“I have to try!” He threw a circuit breaker at him, causing his cloaking tech to malfunction. 

“You don’t get how the real world works. Dog-eat-dog!”

“Not if we make it better!” Kris crouched and performed a Venom Dash, throwing him to a wall. “If only mom can see us, now!”

“She’d understand I’m trying to protect you!” Prowler charged at him with a shield. Kris couldn’t dodge in time and he got sent flying back. “Didn’t your mentor teach you anything about picking your battles?!”

“He taught me to put other people ahead of myself!” Kris dodged another green beam and zip-kicked him to a wall. “You wouldn’t get it, because you’ve never fought for anyone but yourself!” 

“Maybe that’s why I’m still alive!” Kris kicked Prowler to the ground. He was about to shoot more lasers with his fist, but Kris webbed it, rendering it useless. Instead, he used it to his advantage and pulled Kris away and into a wall. He ran up to Kris and grabbed his shoulders. “You throw yourself at enemies you can’t beat! Know who else did that?!”

“ _Don’t_ say his name—!” Kris’ hands began to discharge the second he realized what Prowler was about to say. Prowler threw him away.

“You want your cousins to bury you, too?” Prowler asked. “I won’t let you!”

Prowler whipped out what looked like remote mines. Instead, of detonating, it produced holograms. “Holograms?! More tech from your buddies at Roxxon?”

“I adapt. You can’t keep up!” Kris swing-kicked one of the holograms. Surprisingly, they were solid. Just like his own holograms. He threw holograms of his own and waited for the real Prowler. “Stay back, son!”

“You were _never_ gonna accept me as Spider-Man! The risk I gotta take?!” Kris dodged the actual mines Prowler threw at him.

“You’re right. I’m done letting my family die trying to play hero!” Kris kicked up and punched him with his bioelectricity. “How far will you take this? You gonna kill yourself proving you deserve that mask?”

“It’s not because I wanna prove myself! It’s because I care!” Prowler threw more holograms at him. Kris dodged another green beam and zip-kicked one of the holograms. 

“Without your powers, what are you?!”

“A kid from Branford who wants to help people!” Kris dodged the last mine he threw and zip-kicked him, causing him to stumble to the ground, next to a wall. Prowler raised a fist to try and shoot, but Kris webbed his hand close to the wall. He began advancing toward him. 

Prowler raised a hand. “I know I messed up. I let you down. But we’re _family._ ”

Kris was thrown aback by those words. He dug his nails deeper into one of his fists. “ _Family?_ That didn’t stop you from _lying_ to me, _manipulating_ me, and _fighting_ me. Being “family” isn’t enough anymore.”

Prowler lifted a hand and deactivated his helmet. It was that old, familiar face he saw when he left him at his Aunt’s. More sad, this time. Kris pulled down his hood. “Doesn’t have to be like this. You, me, hating each other. That’s how it happened between me and your grandfather. I don’t wanna repeat that.”

“I don’t either. But you _know_ I can’t leave the city to crumble,” Kris said. “I can’t be the person you wanna turn me into. I _can’t_ look the other way when people need me.” Kris turned around and started walking, leaving his father behind. A thought of what happened to him the last time he looked the other way surfaced in his mind.

“ _I need to be better than that._ ”


	60. Like Real Scientists / Battle For Harlem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lyte chose to destabilize the Nuform using their old middle school science project. Kris relived through memories for a short while until Lyte took the canister right before him and made a run for it to Roxxon Plaza.

Kris called Claude, because he figured that he wasn’t anywhere near his setup. “Claude, my dad just kidnapped me and locked me up.”

“ _Wha—what?! Dude, are you okay?_ ”

“I had to fight him. Then I said… I _told_ him we’re done. For good.” Kris continued his route back to the Oscorp Science Centre.

“ _I—I’m sorry. That’s… that can’t have been easy._ ”

“It’s what I had to do.” Kris zipped to a nearby streetlight. “I’m headed to the Science Centre. Call me if things get bad in Harlem.”

“ _I will. Good luck, Spider-Man._ ”

~~~

“Outside’s a little… too quiet,” Kris whispered. Nobody was in sight. He swung to the doors of the centre lazily, his feet skimming the water. He reached for the handle to see that it was locked. “Maybe from the top…”

He crawled up the building to find that there was, indeed, a way to get in. The problem was that it was electrified. And he didn’t want to experience the same sharp pain of touching it without knowing how powerful the electricity was. 

Good thing the sculpture in the middle wasn’t just for show; it had relay nodes. Kris shot a tether web and connected it to the other relay nodes next to him, opening up two gates that housed two Nuform generators. Kris absorbed the energy of both Nuform generators through his bioelectric powers. “Great! Just a couple more.”

Kris leapt through the cold winter air and shot more tether webs to connect the two relay nodes to the other two relay nodes and absorbed more Nuform from generators. With that, he zipped to the electrified barrier and performed a Venom Smash.

He was quickly greeted by the nostalgia of the place. The sleek, modern design, the “The future of science is today” banner that displayed at the very front… everything. He jogged through the old tunnel and chuckled a little. “Winning the Science fair, getting to show off our converter here… getting to rub it on Brad’s face? We were so proud. I missed it.”

He sighed as he jogged through the empty remnants of the old museum he knew. He zipped through the hole in the ceiling and reached the main space museum. “Lyte? C’mon. We gotta finish this. You and me.”

Kris assumed she was with the project. He zipped to the spaceship and dropped down, jogging to the old sea exhibit. He lifted a hand and paused, biting his tongue. Kris pushed the double doors open and chuckled, finger-gunning the old banner for the Sea Exhibit.

A memory in his mind played.  
~~~

“Oh my goodness—guys, we gotta go! I wanna see our project while we’re still young!” Kris hopped forward, straying away from his friends by just a few meters.

“Slow down, child,” Lyte said as she checked the museum app, trying to find where their project was.

“Hey—you _know_ I’m not a child! Plus, I’m taller than you, and, don’t… question the elevated one!” He lifted his head as if to look down on her, ~~even if he didn’t need to because of the height difference.~~ Kris jogged toward a dive suit on display. “Think you’d let me try it on?”

“Would love to see you walk around in that thing,” Rebekka commented.

“Can’t be worse than the shoes Daymond wore to the spring dance!” Kris happily placed more springs in his steps as he entered what seemed to be the space area of the museum.

“Hey—yours were, like, an inch taller than mine…”

Kris chuckled and lowered his voice as best as his pre-puberty voice could. “Hiii. I’m a fiiish. Gooood to seeee yooouuu Kriiiiiss. Thanks for beeeeiiiinnnggg hheeeeerrrrreee.”

“I don’t recall whales being classified as a fish!” Daymond called.

“Let me have my fun!” Kris whined. The group of four pre-puberty teenagers headed into the space exhibit and ran straight to the elevator. 

“Do you have tickets for the special exhibit?” A lady at the elevator raised her hand, signalling the group to stop.

“Oh, um… our project is on display; didn’t think we needed tickets,” Daymond explained.

“You do, and we’re sold out. Can’t let you go in.”

“See that hallway?” Kris gestured toward the hallway beside the elevator. “If I remember correctly, it wraps around to the elevator.”

“I say we break in. It’s the last day before the exhibit’s taken down, and then we’ll _never_ see our project!” Lyte said. She tried to pull on the door but it didn’t open. She sighed for a few seconds until she spotted something in the dark. “That lock over there? It’s one of those locks that can unlock if you shine a light at it.”

“We gotta find something reflective to slide under the door,” Daymond said.

“Something reflective… it’d be nice if we find something mutable.”

“Mutable? Look at you, breaking out the fancy vocab!”

“Shut up…” Kris jogged away, looking for the object he could slide under the door.

Daymond spun on his heel and spotted small disks on display. “Solar mirrors! And adhesive on the back!”

Something in the exhibit caught Kris’ eye—shape memory alloy. Definitely the “mutable” object Kris spoke of. “Great! This stuff is crazy! Probably metamaterial!” Kris played around with the alloy using the museum app. He made it take the form of a sphere and hid it in his pocket.

Just as he turned around to walk, he bumped into a familiar man with brownish hair, along with an older man. “Whoah, man—sorry,” Kris said. 

“All good,” he said. 

Kris paused to look at their faces. “Wait… you don’t happen to be… Otto Octavius and Peter Parker?” Peter nodded. “Oh my goodness—I’m a big fan! Sorry if I’m bothering you guys or anything, but I’ve seen you guys at work! Mr. Parker and his work at the Science Fair, and Mr. Octavius with his brains? I’ve seen your works! The prosthetics—everything! I’m, like, your number one fan!”

“Breathe, kid. Just take your time,” Peter spoke. He seemed happy about the fact Kris said that he was a fan, but he certainly didn’t know why. 

“Sorry. Just… a big fan. Oh! Uh, could you sign my notebook? The both of you? You guys were the reason I was motivated to do science stuff!” Kris quickly pulled out his notebook and a pen. 

Peter and Otto exchange glances with each other and look at the notebook. “Alright. Ah—what’s your name?”

“Kristian,” Kris said. 

“Good to meet you, Kristian.” Otto placed a hand on his shoulder and patted it. Peter awkwardly patted his back.

Kris walked away, putting even more springs in his steps. “Hey, hey, what’s gotten you in a good mood today?”

“Oh, nothing, just meeting Peter-freaking-Parker _and_ Otto Octavius. No biggie.” Kris crouched over to place the shape memory alloy on the ground. Daymond slapped the solar mirror on a panel. Kris slid the memory alloy through the door and changed its shape and rotated it. 

Rebekka, Lyte, and Daymon shined their phone lights onto the mirror and the doors unlocked. “Our project awaits!”

“Gonna miss doing this stuff with you, Kris,” Rebekka said.

“What do you mean?” 

“Uh, hello, you’ll be at Midtown High. We won’t,” Daymond added.

“I’m not gonna vanish off the planet… we’ll still hang out! And I’ll make time!” Kris headed toward the elevator and waited for it to open.

Lyte groaned. “This is getting mushy—c’mon, let’s head upstairs.”

The elevator doors opened, and the four friends stepped into it. It slowly went up, and the lady by the elevator spotted them. Lyte and Daymond were quick enough to flip her off and laugh. Kris quickly pushed their hands down with his own and turned around as the special exhibit came into view.

The four of them headed to their energy converter, along with their prizes. The prizes being four blue cubes with their names on the sides.

“Screw you guys, I’m taking a group selfie.” Daymond quickly bunched the group together. “Say “Alleeeeeeeles”!”

Lyte scoffed. Kris looked the other way because he didn’t want a sudden selfie. 

“I’m not saying it.”

~~~

Kris looked at their old photo through his phone and sighed, putting it away . He looked up at the energy converter to see the Nuform canister connected to the energy converter. He quickly pressed a few buttons on the converter to try and get it back to a stable condition. His spider-sense buzzed his skull and he quickstepped to the left instinctively

Lyte was there, with her sword. She left the sword on the table and instead took the Nuform. “Lyte, you need to know—”

“I’m done listening to you.” Kris shot two webs at her, but she materialized a shield. She ditched it and started running. He followed her. 

“Lyte! Wait! There’s something you need to kno—” Lyte landed a direct hit on his chest, sending him flying backward. He swung through the space exhibit and back into the main lobby. He zipped through the hole he broke earlier and started swinging. “How fast is she? Man, she’s determined to the point she never stops…”

He called Lysithea as he swung through the sculptures he tinkered with earlier. “Lysi, talk to me. How’s the evacuation going?”

Her signal was weak—her audio was static. But he could make out a few words: Bad. Roxxon. Underground. Warzone. “Are you safe? How’s Claude and Gwen? My cousins?”

The faster he swung, he managed to get a few more words. “ _We made it to—_ ” she was cut by static. “ _—with about a dozen people, but—_ ”

“You’re breaking up! Where are you? Lysithea?! If you can hear me, I’m on my way. Hang tight for me. Please.” Kris swung through Central Park and ran up a wall and stuck to a building overlooking the destruction in Harlem. “Lysithea, can you hear me? Lysithea?! Argh, dangit.”

He dropped down into CJ Walker Park—or what looked like it from the stormy winter—and couldn’t see a thing aside from the spheres and an Underground member and a Roxxon agent. 

He relied on his spider-sense to spot the thugs. After all, he could barely see anything that wasn’t six feet in front of him. He zip-kicked an Underground thug and slid under the Roxxon agent’s legs, kicking up, and punching him out of the way. He ran up to the Underground and threw the mine they threw right back at them. 

Kris dodged a barrage of bullets as he flipped through the air and performed a Venom Dash, throwing an Underground member toward Roxxon agents, stunning them. He uppercutted a thug and yanked them down with his webbing. He ran outside the park and was glad to see that businesses weren’t damaged. Yet.

He hopped onto a wall and bounced off of it, throwing a Roxxon agent into a group of Underground members. He shot a web at a Roxxon agent’s head and pulled. He quicktepped to the right and kicked him. Kris flipped over an Underground member and shot a web at the floor beside him, pulling himself toward the member and punching him. 

He dove to the right and looked up—a sniper was spotted, trying to shoot him down. Kris ran up the wall and turned invisible, pushing him off but webbing him to a safe spot. Kris performed a Venom Dash, but instead of throwing the Roxxon agent, he kicked up, causing all members around him to go airborne. Kris zipped to the next rooftop to see a bunch of Underground members. The “next rooftop” was his apartment building. He shot a web and pulled the Underground member closer, kicking him and using his bioelectricity to uppercut. “Please don’t burn down! I don’t wanna move again!”

“ _Kris! Can you hear me?!_ ” Gwen called, and the static grew worse. It was definitely the work of the warzone he himself was in. 

“Gwen, where are you? Headed east!” Kris bounced onto a wall and pounced at a Roxxon agent. 

Static answered. “ _Hiding in Teo’s Bodega—_ ” More static. Kris grew worried as he performed a Venom Dash and threw a Roxxon agent across the rooftop and knocking into his fellow Roxxon agents. “ _—really bad, you gotta—_ ”

“Okay! Stay safe, stay warm, and don’t do anything stupid like running outside and getting caught in the firefight!” He knocked a Roxxon agent to a billboard and stopped. His shoulders grew weary—his arms felt heavy. ~~mom’s spaghetti~~ He massaged his shoulder as a Roxxon tank pulled up from below the road and began shooting. “Oh, come on!”

He dove into action by shooting a Gravity Well in the middle and have his bioelectricity crackle around him as he discharged, taking out all of the enemies on the ground except for the brutes. They lifted their scythes, but Kris jumped high enough to look down on them from below and webbed their scythes and began falling. He used the blunt end of the handle and knocked them out by bashing it against their heads. 

Kris flipped onto a streetlight. “Claude? Claude, where are you? Can you guys make a break for it?”

“Who’s that?” Teo called. “Someone there?!”

Kris dropped off the streetlight and ran toward the crowd. “Guys, guys! Listen, hey—we need to get outta here, but I can only carry some of you—” He was interrupted by the pulse of what seemed to be the Nuform reactor. Ice cold dread filled his veins. “She started already…”

From behind, a Roxxon agent Kris thought he took down staggered to get up and aimed his gun at Kris. “Kid-Arachnid sighted—”

The agent looked up and got taken down by Prowler. “Get outta here, young blood!”

“Whoah…” Claude whispered.

Prowler shot at a Roxxon agent with his green beam and used his grapple to pull a Roxxon agent’s leg and threw a remote mine at the last agent. He started walking toward the group. “You’ve got more important things to do.”

Kris opened his mouth to say “I’m proud of you, dad”, but was interrupted by the pulse of the Nuform reactor. “He’s right,” Isabelle said.

“Go,” Nicolette added.

Marilynn turned to Prowler. “We’ll get people cleared.” Prowler nodded.

“I’ll be back,” Kris said as he ran toward the reactor, swinging. He swung above a part of the Roxxon Plaza building, just as Lyte had placed the Nuform into the reactor and twisted it, causing the reactor to glow light blue. “ _NO!_ ”

Lyte activated her gauntlets and punched Kris out of the way just as he had zipped closer. “You don’t know… what you’re doing!”

“They _deserve_ what’s coming to them!” Lyte gripped his shoulders tightly and was ready to push him down further into the ground, but Kris stood up quickly.

He pulled her arms off of him. “ _No!_ The reactor—Krieger changed the specs. You’re not just gonna destroy Roxxon Plaza—you’re gonna vaporize all of Harlem!” 

Kris started walking toward the reactor. “I’m not gonna let you lie to me _again!_ ” Lyte gripped his shoulders even more tightly compared to earlier, it almost hurt. She threw him at the wall of Roxxon Plaza and she boosted herself toward him, using her gauntlets to push him back even farther with every punch.

The last punch sent Kris onto the top of the building. Kris struggled to get up as Lyte walked up to him and grabbed his torso with her tech, throwing him off the building. She de-masked. “You’re too late.”

She had one arm attach herself to the building so she could have a safer landing as she fell. Kris swung in and kicked her into the building. Kris bounced off of her as he got himself into a battle stance, his suit and her mask illuminated by the dark red glow of Roxxon Plaza. 

She deactivated her gauntlets as the two slowly straightened themselves, walking around each other in circles, wary of each other’s abilities and waiting for the other to strike first. “You know I can’t let you do this.”

“You know I can’t let you stop me,” she retorted. She activated her gauntlets, mask, and sword as she ran up to Kris and slashed.


	61. Worst Enemies / Make It Right / Where We Come From / I'm Ready

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final battle between Kris and Lyte—with the citizens of Harlem at stake, Kris has two choices: end the fight there and then but put her away for a long time, or try to talk to her, potentially giving the reactor enough time to blow up all of Harlem.

She deactivated her gauntlets as the two slowly straightened themselves, walking around each other in circles, wary of each other’s abilities and waiting for the other to strike first. “You know I can’t let you do this.”

“You know I can’t let you stop me,” she retorted. She activated her gauntlets, mask, and sword as she ran up to Kris and slashed.

The slash had cut into his chest, leaving a gash. First, Vulture, now, this. Just when he thought he couldn’t get injured in the chest anymore… 

“Don’t you see what the reactor’s doing?!” She used her sword and sweeped at the floor, taking down the pillars. Kris flipped over the sword.

“Destroying the Plaza! Tearing down Krieger’s monument!” Lyte leapt off of the floor and smashed the floor, her tech discharging into a purple circle on the ground.

“If the Plaza melts down, it’ll take Harlem with it!” Kris, with his Venom Strike all burnt out from the Mega Venom Blast earlier, resorted to throwing a chair at her.

“Who fed you that? _Krieger?_ I ran the numbers!” The chair disoriented her, and he used it as an opportunity to swing-kick her to a wall. “Krieger’s couldn’t change the reactor—he’s not that smart!”

“He’s smart enough—let me stop this!” Kris got thrown back from her gauntlet and it smashed through the glass and into what seemed to be the dining table. “The more weapons you build, the more I’ll destroy!”

“Oh, I can keep this up all day, Kris!” Kris zipped through the air as he dodged Lyte’s sword. He grabbed a fruit bowl and flicked an apple. Good enough, it disoriented her. Enough time for him to land a Venom Strike on his childhood friend. When she looked around, Kris was camouflaged. “Keep hiding! I can wait!”

She threw mines in a circular formation that covered her. “When are you gonna stop living this hero delusion, Kris?!”

“It’s not a delusion! It’s who I _am!_ And what makes me, me!” He threw one at her whilst in the air.

“An idiot with a heart of gold!” She responded as she used her tech to boost herself toward him and smack him to the ground. 

Kris went in for a punch, but she gripped his arm and attempted to throw him, but his sticky feet didn’t allow that. Kris returned the favor by throwing _her_ to the floor and webbing her up. “I don’t… wanna fight! We’ll talk!”

He shot a web and pulled himself toward the windowsill. He dove in and said, “After I disable the reac—” The pulse of the Nuform reactor pushed him back up the building, destroying the entire top-half of Roxxon Plaza with a huge explosion.

The people from below started gasping and pointing at the explosion. 

“Kris…” His cousins whispered.

~~~

“Lyte—look! The reactor’s still going critical!” Kris staggered to get up. To help him up, he used his sticky hand to push him up.

“ _NO!_ I am _not_ running away again!” Lyte drew her sword and slashed at Kris, sending him off the building. Kris got pulled back by Lyte, in case he might disable the reactor while she was still on the building. Lyte replaced her sword with a blaster and began shooting at Kris. “You were the _one_ person I needed on my side!”

“I _am_ on your side! We can take down Roxxon with what we know about Nuform!” Kris dodged the first few attacks, but was blasted by her tech. 

“It won’t work, no one cares!” Lyte threw a mine at him, but he shot a web at it and flung it back to her. He performed a Venom Dash and uppercutted her. He bounced up and kicked her.

“You feel that? We _have_ to stop the reactor!” Kris ran toward the ledge and leapt.

“Not gonna be _that_ easy, Kris!” She used her tech to pull him back and materialized her blaster and shot at him. “I’ve beaten you before—I’ll do it again!”

“Not this time! This time, I’ll be the hero Harlem needs!” Kris punched her with his bioelectricity, but she materialized a shield and pushed her back. He quickly turned invisible to try and get her to be distracted.

“Hiding won’t help you!” Lyte threw more mines at random places, to which Kris used to throw at her. His camouflage ran off, and she materialized a sword. She used the sword to slash at him, but he parried it with his own arm, marking another gash on him. 

Kris leapt toward a wall and grabbed her by the head. He used it to smack her to the ground and kick her away, but she quickly grabbed his neck for a brief moment before throwing him at a wall and using her tech to push him further, and then used it to slam him back onto the floor, breaking through and having them go into the lower floor.

“ _Oh, hey, battle royale. My favorite. Uh, just wanted to chime in and let you know, so you won’t worry: we’re gonna be just fine if this building blows. Hell, we’ll be fine if *all* of Harlem blows. I mean, do you have any idea what kind of insurance we’ve got? Oh, and the optics of being the victims of a terrorist attack? Forget Roxxon Plaza. Coming Soon: Roxxon City!_ ”

“I have to stop him!” Lyte shouted, dashing toward a corner of the room and shot at him.

“Not like this!” Kris performed a Venom Dash and threw her to a wall. “I know about the promise you made to Rebekka, but she wouldn’t want—”

“Don’t say her name!” Lyte grabbed a chunk of concrete with her gauntlet and threw it at Kris, who flung it back at her.

“I know you feel those shockwaves—help me stop this!” Kris used his bioelectricity and punched her. 

“Then stop— _leave!_ ” Kris turned on his camouflage. She materialized a blaster and shot at random areas of the room in search of him.

“You want the truth?! Here it is: Rebekka, would have _hated_ that you became the Tinkerer!” Kris zipped to her and disabled her tech with his bioelectricity, but she had a shield materialize just in time for her to push him away. 

“Shut up!” She jumped high enough to materialize a sword from her hands and zip to him with her tech, and Kris couldn’t dodge in time, sending him backward. “You loved Rebekka, too! How can you defend her murderer?!”

“I’m not! But I can’t sacrifice Harlem to take down Krieger!” Kris flipped over her and slapped a remote mine at her, stunning Lyte. 

Kris used his bioelectricity to disable her tech and he drop-kicked her away, but she boosted herself back. She grabbed his arm and threw him toward a wall. Lyte gripped his torso, pushing him toward the wall. “I gave you _EVERY_ chance to leave!”

She punched, but Kris managed to pull away from the punch. While pulling it out, she used it to smack him across the head and send him over the edge, his arms and above dangling over the edge. She slowly walked toward him and punched him thrice before she grabbed his neck. “Don’t make me _kill_ you! You can’t _win! Why_ do you keep _fighting?!_ ”

Kris slowly turned his head at the pulsing Nuform reactor and his dangling arm. His bioelectricity surged through his hand, crackling around it as he clenched it as hard as he could. He grabbed her wrist. “ _Because…_ ” he whispered. 

“Because… _I’m… Spider-Man!_ ”

He punched her across the face, disorienting her. Kris ran up to land another hit on her by jumping and trying to judo kick, but she grabbed him by the ankle and threw him across the room. She summoned sawblades with the snap of her fingers an Kris managed to flip through them. “Death wheels! Okay!”

He swing-kicked her toward a wall, but she pushed herself downward with her tech. Lyte boosted herself to the other side of the room and shot at him with purple lasers, with Kris only managing to get hit once. She threw more sawblades his way. He vaulted over one, quickstepped to the side, and slid under the last. He performed a Venom Dash and kicked up, throwing a remote mine at her and detonating it. She materialized sawblades and sent them his way. “It’s _OVER,_ Kris!”

“Yeah! I know!” He flipped over the last sawblade and zipped to her, punching. 

After a few hits, she grabbed his leg and threw him across the room. “I’m done listening to your crap!” She shouted, throwing more sawblades his way. 

“You never started!” Kris dodged the sawblades as it kept coming at him before he punched her with bioelectricity. She grabbed his arm and threw her across the room.

“You won’t stop me!

“Then I’ll go down trying!” Kris dodged her last sawblade and performed a Venom Dash, throwing her across the room. Lyte was knocked back into a wall and rolled around, her head close to the ledge. It was close enough for her to see the Nuform reactor pulsing, destroying Harlem. People ran and screamed, cars started falling over, and streets began to slant. 

Lyte stood up, shaking her head at Kris’ direction. “This shouldn’t be happening!”

“Well—I wanna say ‘I told you so’, but now’s not the time. All I can do is stop it—!” A huge chunk of rubble dropped onto the platform that Lyte stood on. Kris held on, but the ground was too unsteady for Lyte—she slid across the platform and fell. “ _LYTE!_ ”

Kris dove in. In a last ditch effort, Lyte tried to use her tech to boost her back up from falling, but it only sparked in her hands, due to the harsh punishment it received from the fight just a few seconds ago. Kris shot a web to try and pull her close, but the explosion that occurred beside him snapped the webbing. The interface in his mask was malfunctioning. He could barely see, because the words, “SYSTEM ERROR!” kept flashing. He removed his mask, and with both hands, shot webs and pulled her closer.

Kris caught her. Both of them hugged, trying to hold on. “I’m sorry—”

“It’s okay—” Kris shot a web to try and land properly, but it was too late, and the both of them hit the ground.

~~~

A blink, and Kris looked around. He could see a faint light blue orb pulsing in the distance, amidst the rubble in front of him. The downed helicopter’s propeller spun with every few pulse. Kris crawled his way to Lyte, but she was out cold. He looked back at her, then back at the Nuform reactor. He knew what he had to do. He staggered to get up and shielded his eyes from the blinding light he was heading toward. “Not… much… time…!”

“Just a little… further…!” He struggled against it, but with every step he took, it was like the Nuform reactor fought back against him. He limped, clutching his side that felt like it was being stabbed for every step he took. A rubble was flung to the propeller, due to the constantly pulsing Nuform reactor, causing him to drop to his knees. It was so close—yet he could barely reach it. The sheer energy was enough to make him feel like he was being torn apart. “Have to hurry… it’s gonna blow… any minute…”

“Almost… there… _come on!_ ” Kris muttered. He struggled with all his might, but when he got close to the reactor, another piece of the downed helicopter fell on him. But the space that was in front of him was small, but big enough for him to fit through. Coughing, hacking, and wheezing, Kris crawled to the reactor, struggling to catch his breath. But he could barely breathe from the sheer energy of the Nuform reactor. It was like it dissolved the oxygen near the proximity of the reactor. Similar to that of going to space without a spacesuit. “I can… I can do this. I’ve done it before… except this one… is a hundred times… larger.”

With a weary hand, Kris lifted one hand and forced it against the reactor. He could already feel the energy surge through his hand. He forced the other hand against it, and with his bioelectricity, he began to bellow from the pain of the Nuform energy as he absorbed it with all his might. A small sample of it was enough for the veins around his hands to glow blue, though, his ribcage glowed yellowish. But the energy—it was too much. Too much for his almost-young-adult body to handle. One of his hands was forced away, and he couldn’t feel it anymore. It was buzzing with numbness. 

When Lyte came to, she took notice of Kris struggling against the Nuform reactor. She covered her eyes, just by how bright the reactor glowed. Small flashes of Rebekka trying to stop the reactor played in her head. 

“ _No… LYTE! DON’T LOOK!_ ”

She dropped her hand. “Kris…”

Kris breathed heavily, trying his best to breathe from the limited oxygen he had from his close proximity to the reactor. It was too thin. It was as if trying to breathe without an oxygen tank in space. It was almost damaging to his whole internal system as he tried to absorb it, but he had to keep trying—he had to. It was a responsibility. An occupational hazard. But that’s what came with the job of being Spider-Man. Having to deal with life-threatening situations. Kris wasn’t doing it to prove that he could be Spider-Man, but it was because he needed to show the people of New York that they don’t have anything to worry about if Peter were to go on vacation. He could feel the bioelectricity surge through his fists as he forced both hands to the reactor, absorbing as much energy as he could. 

Bellowing from the pain of the energy coursing through his body, the energy turned from blue to yellow. The mere power of the reactor broke through his suit. As if in slow motion, the energy of Nuform shattered through his suit as he struggled with all his might to absorb it all. He closed his eyes to avoid the hardened carbon fiber that came from his fists. He let out one last scream as all of the light blue energy swiftly concentrated itself toward Kris’ hands, and it pushed him back, causing him to stumble back and writhe as his body slowly crackled violently, as small charges of electricity sparked around him. That was the closest he could do to lower it little by little, but it was just—too much for his eighteen-year-old body to handle. He could feel it rising in him—about to explode any second.

Lyte headed toward him and tried to push him back, knowing full well he would practically be a nuke. But the electricity that sparked around his body shocked her hands. Kris tried his best to crawl away, but his body jittered everywhere. “Get them far away—I can’t hold this in much longer.”

Lyte glanced at the people approaching, then back at Kris. She knew what she had to do. She looked down at her boots and saw it transform into boosters. She activated her gauntlets to try and assist her as she hoisted him above her shoulder. “Wait, what are you—?”

Lyte took one last glance at the approaching people, and with as much strength as she had left, she boosted herself onto the wall of Roxxon Plaza and ran as fast as she could. When the end of the building’s height neared, she boosted herself one last time, high above the clouds. Kris pushed against her, now realizing what she planned to do. “ _I can’t…!_ ”

“It’s okay.” She pulled him into a bridal carry.

“I can’t…” he repeated, trying to pry himself away.

“Just let go.” She took notice of how much the energy affected him, because of how visible his internal system was with the bright yellow glow. It was near impossible to even see his external body just from the glow. He still continued to push himself away. “Let go.”

He took one last glance at her face, and she seemed to be in joyful peace. Kris glued his eyes shut as the sky around them turned orange. With the Nuform energy that discharged inside him, he stopped holding back the energy as it exploded into one, big, yellow nuke that took the form of a spider-web in the sky.

The civilians, including Claude, Gwen, Lysithea, his cousins, and the neighbors of Harlem gasped, all pointing at the spider-web or covering their mouths. His cousins continued to look up, hoping that maybe—just _maybe,_ he would fall out of that explosion. 

And he did—but he left a trail of electricity and smoke as he fell. He dropped onto the concrete, with most of it covering his body. Not on top of him, but it was covering his maskless face. 

“No, no, no. No, please…” All five of his cousins ran forth, looking at his limp body.

“Oh, God. Say something!” Marilynn cried hysterically, shaking his body, looking for any signs of life. Isabelle had to pull her away and comfort her, but the tears just wouldn’t stop coming.

Kris coughed. Marilynn propped her head up and tried her best to stop crying. He slowly lifted his droopy eyelids to see everyone. “Is… is everyone… okay?” His voice was too raspy when he spoke.

“Just—just don’t talk for a while, okay? Rest your voice box,” Abby said. Kris tried his best to nod.

“And yeah, everyone’s okay,” Lysithea added. “All of us are.”

“Lyte…” His lip wobbled as he uttered the name as if a block of sadness dropped on him just by the mere mention of the name. Everyone who knew about Lyte’s secret looked up. Ivy placed her head against his chest to check if his heartbeat was fine. It was.

Hailey stepped forth and picked up the mask. She handed it to Claude, and Claude handed it to Lysithea, who passed it to his cousins. With shaky hands, the five of them pulled his mask back over his head. 

Kris lifted his arm, and the five of his cousins helped him up as he staggered to his feet. They let go of his arm, and he shifted his head in a certain direction so that one side of the visor from his suit could be seen, with his back still facing the civilians. What they saw looking back at them was not Kid-Arachnid—they saw _Spider-Man._

“He’s… so young,” a construction worker mentioned. 

“He’s just a… kid. No older than my son.” A news van showed up and a reporter, along with a cameraman, showed up from the van.

A mural painter glanced at the reporter, then back at Kris. “Hey—get out of here, kid. We’ll take care of them.”

The reporter ran up to the crowd who practically created a wall, blocking the reporter off. “Did you see his face?” the reporter asked.

“You did good…” All five of his cousins gave him a small smile. “…Spider-Man.”

Kris nodded, returning the smile despite the fact they couldn’t see it. “Thanks.” Kris glanced at the crowd.

“Who is he?” The reporter shoved a mic at the mural painter’s face.

The mural painter gestured toward Kris. “That guy?” He smirked at the reporter.

“ _He’s our Spider-Man._ ”

~~~

_Four weeks later…_

“Come on—those are clearly deep fakes—they’re _DEEP FAKES!_ You understand me?” Krieger protested. “Do you have _any_ idea who I am? I will own you! I will—” 

“Yeah, yeah, we know who you are,” George said. Krieger’s head smacked the roof of the car.

“OW! I will OWN YOU!” The door slammed on his face as he continued to protest, hurting him. “GAH!”

~~~

“ _…That’s right, friends: Simon Krieger is in prison. (REDACTED) Echarri, AKA thought-to-be-dead scientist, AKA the Prowler, flipped on him and Roxxon. Echarri will serve time, but could get a reduced sentence. I think we can all learn something from what happened in Harlem: Together, we’re stronger. And that having your own neighborhood Spider-Man is great._ ”

Kris happily grabbed a box of Pocky and a bottle of Kool-Aid as he placed it on the counter, listening to music on Marilynn’s old headphones, which is his current one. He petted Spider-Man (The cat) and waved goodbye to Teo as he walked out of the bodega as he waved to another person. 

Kris walked by the mural and took notice that his Spider-Man was now there. He smiled at it and then moved toward Hailey. He tried his best to remember his ASL language that he learnt in school. “Looking good, Hailey.”

“Thank you.” She mouthed and gestured.

He spun around on his heel as he walked down the street, taking steps and would sometimes delay it to time it perfectly to the beat of the music that played in his headphones. He stopped when he noticed Camila and Caleb walking together. He stopped and began dancing with Camila for a brief moment before he continued walking, pointing finger guns at the two. “See you around!”

He spotted Gloria and headed toward her. “Still no shifts for me, yet?”

“Nope. See you after break!”

“Okay, see you!” Kris continued walking and waved at the construction worker. “See you around!”

He headed up the stairs to the apartment complex of his building.

~~~

Peter was waiting at the water tower. Kris slinked down in classic spider-like fashion, finally mastered the ability to drink upside down. Peter turned to Kris, a small tint of wonder under his visors. “Man. _Still_ can’t get over that suit. So cool!”

Kris gave Peter a smile. “Gotta be me.”

“Yeah, you do.”

Kris dropped down and pulled down his mask, pulling up the hood. The both of them crouched down. “Hey, Pete… does this job get any easier?” Kris kept glancing at the Roxxon Plaza, still recounting what had happened there just four weeks ago like it was yesterday.

“Some of it, yeah,” Peter said. “Some things never get easier, though.”

Kris took in a deep breath and sighed. “Roxxon did this uptown because they saw us as disposable. Me. Reb. Lyte. All of Harlem.” Kris looked at the sunset. “I think part of our job’s making sure they can’t get away with it,” he mused. 

A few beats passed. “We’ll add it to the Spider-Man oath.”

Distant police sirens entered their ears. Peter and Kris exchanged glances. “Go time?”

“Go time.” 

The two of them bumped fists together before they leapt off the building and began swinging. Peter swung to a building and began wall running. Kris did the same, but managed to avoid the fire escape that he just narrowly dodged as the both of them leapt off of their respective buildings and swung into action.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that marks the end of the Kid-Arachnid Saga. And during the time where I think of what to do for the next part of the series, I'm planning a spinoff for Peter, which is canon, (and it'll also involve how his villains came to be, and all the Spider-Man traits you love about the character!) and then MAYBE a possible multiverse. Still haven't thought it through, so take the multiverse thing with a grain of salt. Other than that, have a good one, fellow web-heads!


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